FLE
New York police report warns of mounting homegrown terrorist threat Average citizens who quietly band together and adopt radical ways pose a mounting threat to U.S. security that could exceed that of established terrorist groups like al-Qaida, a new police analysis has concluded. The New York Police Department report released Wednesday describes a process in which young men - often legal immigrants from the Middle East who are frustrated with their lives in their adopted country - adopt a philosophy that puts them on a path to violence. The report was intended to explain how people become radicalized rather than to lay out specific strategies for thwarting terror plots. It calls for more intelligence gathering, and argues that local law enforcement agencies are in the best position to monitor potential terrorists. The findings drew swift criticism from an Arab anti-discrimination group, which accused the NYPD of stereotyping and of contradicting recent federal warnings that the chief terror threat lies abroad....
Judges Skeptical of State-Secrets Claim Lawyers for the Bush administration encountered a federal appeals court Wednesday that appeared deeply skeptical of a blanket claim that the government's surveillance efforts cannot be challenged in court because the litigation might reveal state secrets. "The bottom line here is the government declares something is a state secret, that's the end of it. No cases. . . . The king can do no wrong," said Judge Harry Pregerson, one of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit who grilled administration lawyers at length over whether a pair of lawsuits against the government should go forward. Deputy Solicitor General Gregory G. Garre was forced to mount a public argument that almost nothing about the substance of the government's conduct could be talked about in court because doing so might expose either the methods used in gathering intelligence or gaps in those methods. "This seems to put us in the 'trust us' category," Judge M. Margaret McKeown said about the government's assertions that its surveillance activities did not violate the law. " 'We don't do it. Trust us. And don't ask us about it.' " At one point, Garre argued that courts are not the right forum for complaints about government surveillance, and that "other avenues" are available. "What is that? Impeachment?" Pregerson shot back....
U.S. to Expand Domestic Use Of Spy Satellites The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S. The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement. Until now, only a handful of federal civilian agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey, have had access to the most basic spy-satellite imagery, and only for the purpose of scientific and environmental study. According to officials, one of the department's first objectives will be to use the network to enhance border security, determine how best to secure critical infrastructure and help emergency responders after natural disasters. Sometime next year, officials will examine how the satellites can aid federal and local law-enforcement agencies, covering both criminal and civil law. The department is still working on determining how it will engage law enforcement officials and what kind of support it will give them. Access to the high-tech surveillance tools would, for the first time, allow Homeland Security and law-enforcement officials to see real-time, high-resolution images and data....
Senators Question Execution Speedup Two senators have asked the Justice Department to delay new rules that would give Attorney General Alberto Gonzales authority to limit the time death row inmates spend on appeals before being executed. The bipartisan request, in a letter from two of Gonzales' most vocal Senate critics, questions how strict the federal government will be in deciding whether states ensure that defendants in capital punishment cases have had competent legal help. That's a task traditionally carried out by federal courts. But a little-noticed change last year in the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act gives the attorney general the power to decide state requests for speedier appeals that generally run for years. "States must be required to take meaningful steps to guarantee adequate representation of death row prisoners before certification occurs," said Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., in their Aug. 2 letter to Gonzales. "This is especially important in light of the accelerated timing and abridged federal court review."....
Authorities say Mexican cartel growing Oregon marijuana Authorities say four men arrested in the course of raids on pot farms hidden in Southern Oregon forests this week are part of a Mexican drug cartel that is growing pot for national distribution. In recent days teams of state police, Jackson County deputies, and federal agents have cut some 42,000 marijuana plants potentially worth more than $100 million from sites near Applegate Lake about 20 miles southwest of Medford, authorities said. "I guess we provide a remote area where they can conceal some of their crops," said Capt. Lee Fox, a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement agent. "It's going to be a tough battle for the foreseeable future." The investigation goes back two years, when a U.S. Bureau of Land Management special agent found a cell phone at a campsite at a marijuana plot in Jackson County, according to an affidavit filed by a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency special agent in U.S. District Court. Phone records revealed calls to Genaro Zaragoza-Infante in Medford, and he was put under surveillance, the affidavit said....
New airport agents check for danger in fliers' facial expressions Next time you go to the airport, there may be more eyes on you than you notice. Specially trained security personnel are watching body language and facial cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions. The watcher could be the attendant who hands you the tray for your laptop or the one standing behind the ticket-checker. Or the one next to the curbside baggage attendant. They're called Behavior Detection Officers, and they're part of several recent security upgrades, Transportation Security Administrator Kip Hawley told an aviation industry group in Washington last month. He described them as "a wonderful tool to be able to identify and do risk management prior to somebody coming into the airport or approaching the crowded checkpoint." The officers are working in more than a dozen airports already, according to Paul Ekman, a former professor at the University of California at San Francisco who has advised Hawley's agency on the program. Amy Kudwa, a TSA public affairs specialist, said the agency hopes to have 500 behavior detection officers in place by the end of 2008....
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
NEWS ROUNDUP
Red faces at NASA over climate-change blunder In the United States, the calendar year 1998 ranked as the hottest of them all – until someone checked the math. After a Toronto skeptic tipped NASA this month to one flaw in its climate calculations, the U.S. agency ordered a full data review. Days later, it put out a revised list of all-time hottest years. The Dust Bowl year of 1934 now ranks as hottest ever in the U.S. – not 1998. More significantly, the agency reduced the mean U.S. "temperature anomalies" for the years 2000 to 2006 by 0.15 degrees Celsius. NASA officials have dismissed the changes as trivial. Even the Canadian who spotted the original flaw says the revisions are "not necessarily material to climate policy." But the revisions have been seized on by conservative Americans, including firebrand radio host Rush Limbaugh, as evidence that climate change science is unsound. Said Limbaugh last Thursday: "What do we have here? We have proof of man-made global warming. The man-made global warming is inside NASA ... is in the scientific community with false data."....
Environmentalists run a real Western ranch, and help heal the land John Heyneman wants everyone to know at least this much about the ranches he's running north of the Grand Canyon for a pair of conservation groups: "We're real ranchers, not a bunch of cowboys out here reading [poetry] or singing to the animals," says Heyneman, who is raising and grazing more than 1,000 head of cattle on the picturesque Kaibab Plateau and the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument just south of the Utah-Arizona line. "The cowboying we do is as real as anywhere in the country." And, to Heyneman, any talk otherwise is just so much bull. After all, cattle are cattle - even if they are "green cows." The Conservation Fund and Grand Canyon Trust bought the Kane and Two-Mile ranches - and the accompanying 860,000 acres of federal grazing permits - in September 2005 for $4.5 million. The price tag included 1,000 acres of deeded property and a ranch house, where Theodore Roosevelt and Buffalo Bill once stayed. The two ranches - now combined under the moniker North Rim Ranch - aim to blend multiple-land use, including livestock grazing, with land-restoration efforts....
Battle looms over water quality Ken Valentine's popularity took a nose dive last year when he began speaking out about water from coal-bed methane wells being dumped into the Apishapa River. The Las Animas County rancher believed the water was tainting the Apishapa with salt and managed to persuade fellow farm-club members to write to the state health department. The club later rescinded that letter, saying Valentine, a former club director, had misled them and that the energy industry - primarily Irving, Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. - was helping local farms and ranches, not hurting them. "The biggest problem with the Valentines is that they just don't want Pioneer on their land," said Tom Verquer, the club's current president. The farm-club spat is one sign of the growing tension among landowners in the Raton Basin over coal-bed methane development. ust like the Powder River basin in Wyoming, the Raton is home to ranchers who, for almost a decade, have been receiving coal-bed methane water for their livestock and to replenish streams used by the deer and elk valued by hunters....
Off-road mapping program takes on a sense of urgency Many off-road fans in Colorado are involved in an extensive program to map and identify their favorite roads and trails. In November 2005, the U.S. Forest Service introduced a regulation for recreational motor-vehicle use in national forests and grasslands. The "travel-management policy" requires every road, trail and area open to motor vehicles to be identified and designated on a map. The process, expected to take four years, is occurring in all 155 national forests and 20 grasslands. When the process is complete, each unit will publish a motor-vehicle-use map. There's a sense of urgency among those who drive off-road. "If we don't identify these roads, we could lose them," off-road fan Peter Belsky said. Once the roads and trails are identified and mapped, motor-vehicle use off the roads and outside the areas will be banned....
Off-road driving is one of America's fastest-growing trends in recreation But even more than his Jeep, Belsky loves the outdoors. "I can't get enough of it," he said. He gets as much as he can by driving his beloved Jeep on trails and roads throughout Colorado nearly every weekend. "I love it," he said. "You can see in a day of four-wheeling what you wouldn't see in a week of hiking." Belsky, entering his senior year at the University of Denver and president of the DU Off-Road Club, is hooked on four-wheeling. He was drawn to it for several reasons - that getting out in nature thing, his love of cars, and something else: "I've met some of my best friends through four-wheeling." The enterprising student isn't alone in his love of four- wheeling. You don't need to look further than the traffic heading to the mountains to realize off-road driving is one of the fastest-growing trends in recreation. A survey conducted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2004 showed nearly 48 million Americans turned their SUVs, ATVs and motorcycles off the pavement onto trails and roads on public lands that year. Nearly 2 million of those drivers headed to trails and backcountry roads in Colorado....
BLM keeping eye on competitive kayaking It was only a few weeks ago that a couple of us unwitting scofflaws stumbled over the dark side of the legal line, though, deciding it might be fun to paddle our kayaks in a head-to-head, um, "chase" to the bottom of the Gore Canyon section of the upper Colorado River near Kremmling. It was only yesterday that I discovered such race-like pursuits are not only frowned upon by the BLM, they can be quite expensive. To the tune of up to $1,000 in fines, not to mention jail time. "Competition is not a gray area. It's spelled out very clearly," Windsor explained. "If two people are competing, it's a race. If one person is competing against an established record, it's a race. Without a Special Recreation Permit (SRP), it's a violation of federal code. That's written in our guidance policy." That code may very well be put to the test this weekend, the traditional date of the annual Gore Canyon whitewater raft and kayak race that for the first time in recent history cannot be conducted legally because of the lack of the requisite SRP. Whether some facsimile of the more than 15-year tradition will be conducted at all remains to be seen. But rest assured that Windsor and the remainder of the BLM's Kremmling Field Office will be watching....
Feds Exempt 258 Million Acres From Environmental Review In a move decried by environmentalists, the Bureau of Land Management today exempted certain forestry, grazing, oil and gas, and recreation projects from environmental reviews if private interests propose project son 258 million acres of BLM lands. Environmentalists had opposed the two-year-old proposal, which was enacted today by James L. Caswell, who was confirmed by the Senate as the new BLM director Aug. 6. The expansion of the number of so-called “categorical exclusions” for certain forestry, grazing, oil and gas, and recreation activities means that those actions no longer need to undergo environmental review by the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The act requires a thorough review of federal decisions, so that any potential environmental damage can be prevented or mitigated. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the new categorical exclusions will “improve efficiency of environmental reviews.”....
Agent Green August is the peak of the wildfire season in the Western United States. Last year, over 8 million acres had burned by the end of the month, and this year you can expect the evening news to be filled with even more tragic stories about wildfires spreading across the West, devouring people and property. Who’s to blame? Fingers often point to the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which controls over 250 million acres of public lands, an eighth of the nation’s total land area. Perhaps that’s why the BLM recently announced new measures to prevent wildfires. The risk is that in calling for increased use of herbicides to control the growth of vegetation, the federal agency courts legal action by extremist environmental groups. Currently, BLM treats a mere 300,000 acres with herbicides to halt the spread of invasive vegetation—more commonly known as weeds. Weeds, particularly those that are not native to the area, are a constant threat. They degrade soil productivity and choke waterways, deprive livestock of food, crowd out native plant species and, perhaps worst of all, increase the risk of wildfires. Weeds on western public lands are estimated to be spreading at the alarming rate of over 2,300 acres per day....
Two years, two crashes: Latest aerial-hunting accident leads to GF&P review Looking back on those tense moments before the crash, Tony DeCino still doesn't know how things went so wrong so fast. The airplane was running fine. The wind was light. A low pass over the brown pastures of the Cheyenne River breaks put him and gunner Dan Turgeon within 50 yards of the furry targets below. And the 12-gauge shotgun bucked repeatedly against Turgeon's shoulder, firing clusters of heavy steel shot that sent two coyotes tumbling into the grass. To that point, it was a perfect run. "We'd killed both coyotes. We'd already pulled up, cleared the terrain and were in a descent to go back and check on the animals," DeCino said. "Over the course of a couple of seconds, things changed from perfectly fine to me trying to maneuver that airplane and us being in the dirt."....
Former E. Idaho elk rancher charged with violating private game rules A former Idaho elk rancher is facing more than $55,000 in fines for allegedly violating rules governing private hunting preserves. The Idaho Department of Agriculture is charging Rex Rammell with a series of infractions related to the way he operated his business between 2004 and 2006. The agency issued a 10-page order Friday. It accuses Rammell of not filing annual inventory reports, illegally transporting quarantined elk and neglecting to notify state officials when more than 100 elk escaped his pens near Rexburg last year. Rammell says the order is a response to a lawsuit he filed against the state earlier this year....
Pinedale raises concern about BLM drilling plan Pinedale, the town at the heart of western Wyoming's gas boom, doesn't support the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's preferred plan for gas drilling in the region over the next 15 to 20 years, environmentalists pointed out Tuesday. Town officials confirmed their concerns about the plan, saying they are especially worried about maintaining the long-term viability of the upper Green River Basin's gas industry. Drilling too much too quickly, they said, could perpetuate economic swings and hinder efforts to diversify the local economy beyond gas and oil. Comments the town has submitted to the BLM also said the BLM hasn't sufficiently considered the socio-economic effects of more drilling, such as increased traffic. The town's comment letter said downtown Pinedale is getting too much gas-related truck traffic as is. "It is the worst place imaginable for oversized industrial traffic," the letter said....
Blazes stretch firefighting resources in West Helicopters, air tankers and other resources are in short supply as wildfires continue to scorch the bone-dry West. Fire managers say they're sharing the best they can, but the onerous task of prioritizing the nation's largest fires and doling out resources falls on the shoulders of seven people who meet twice daily in an Idaho conference room. Known as the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group, its members represent federal land agencies like the Forest Service, as well as state foresters and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They look at everything from the size and danger of the fires to the weather forecast. It's a delicate balance, and one that's increasingly difficult as fire seasons start early and last longer, with available resources shrinking due to tight budgets, military conflicts and other issues....
State, feds target bison Jackson wildlife managers say they are anxious to start a bison hunt that could cull the local bison herd by 25 percent this year. Killing bison, they say, is an essential part of restoring habitat and helping prevent diseases in the Jackson Elk Herd. The statements came a day after Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal asked the federal government to help lift an injunction against bison hunting on the National Elk Refuge so the state can proceed with its planned bison hunt this fall. In a letter dated Aug. 10, Freudenthal asks Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to help appeal to a federal court. “While we, like the Fish and Wildlife Service, believe that the number of bison on the National Elk Refuge needs to be reduced to protect this environmentally-sensitive area, we are unwilling to risk being found in contempt for going forward with actions that are presently prohibited by a federal court order,” Freudenthal wrote. “At some point in the not-too-distant future, bison numbers on the NER will grow so high that a reduction to management quotas will result in a political backlash.” This spring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which runs the refuge, issued the 605-page environmental impact statement for a program to reduce numbers of both elk and bison through increased hunting. The plan would call for bison hunting as early as Aug. 25....
U.S.-Mexico discussions will tackle Colorado River issues The United States and Mexico have agreed to discuss a range of issues surrounding the Colorado River, a key water source for both nations, the U.S. Interior Department said Monday. U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne released a joint U.S.-Mexico statement saying the discussions would include the effects of climate change and drought; urban, agricultural and environmental water needs in both nations; wildlife habitat in the Colorado River Delta; and such programs as sea-water desalination to augment supplies. The statement said existing treaties should be used to "expedite discussions in coming weeks." Moody said Kempthorne and Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, directed their technical staffs to draw up an agenda, and it would be up to those two groups to establish the outlines of the issues. The Colorado River and its tributaries supply water to Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming....
Home Again on the Kitchen Range ON fancy china and in hot dog rolls and burger buns, buffalo is finally coming of age as an alternative red meat. But it almost didn’t happen. The first time buffalo ranching took off, in the 1990s, the public wasn’t ready. People wanted only the fancy steaks and burgers; the other cuts were seen as tough and gamy, and producers couldn’t give them away. In 2000 the market collapsed. Bulls that had sold for $2,100 were going for $500. The producers who held on until 2003 found a different climate as sales began to perk up. By then many Americans had started looking at their food with a more critical eye, and they were ready for buffalo, also called American bison. Today buffalo meat, shunned no longer, has achieved an enviable position: simultaneous praise from chefs, nutritionists and environmentalists. At last, steak without guilt....
Crocs trap Australian rancher up tree for a week An Australian rancher described Tuesday how he spent a week up a tree in a remote crocodile-infested swamp as maneaters stalked him -- after he fell off his horse. The manager of the Silver Plains cattle station in the far northeast Cape York peninsular, David George, said he watched crocodiles' eyes glowing red beneath him for seven nights before he was rescued by helicopter. "Every night I was stalked by two crocs who would sit at the bottom of the tree staring up at me," George told Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper. "All I could see was two sets of red eyes below me and all night I had to listen to a big bull croc bellowing a bit further out." "I'd yell out at them, 'I'm not falling out of this tree for you bastards'." George, 53, said his nightmare began when he was thrown by his horse. Dazed and bleeding, he climbed back into the saddle and gave the animal its head, expecting it to take him home. But later, in the pre-dawn darkness, he realized it had taken him more than a kilometer into the heart of a crocodile swamp....
Red faces at NASA over climate-change blunder In the United States, the calendar year 1998 ranked as the hottest of them all – until someone checked the math. After a Toronto skeptic tipped NASA this month to one flaw in its climate calculations, the U.S. agency ordered a full data review. Days later, it put out a revised list of all-time hottest years. The Dust Bowl year of 1934 now ranks as hottest ever in the U.S. – not 1998. More significantly, the agency reduced the mean U.S. "temperature anomalies" for the years 2000 to 2006 by 0.15 degrees Celsius. NASA officials have dismissed the changes as trivial. Even the Canadian who spotted the original flaw says the revisions are "not necessarily material to climate policy." But the revisions have been seized on by conservative Americans, including firebrand radio host Rush Limbaugh, as evidence that climate change science is unsound. Said Limbaugh last Thursday: "What do we have here? We have proof of man-made global warming. The man-made global warming is inside NASA ... is in the scientific community with false data."....
Environmentalists run a real Western ranch, and help heal the land John Heyneman wants everyone to know at least this much about the ranches he's running north of the Grand Canyon for a pair of conservation groups: "We're real ranchers, not a bunch of cowboys out here reading [poetry] or singing to the animals," says Heyneman, who is raising and grazing more than 1,000 head of cattle on the picturesque Kaibab Plateau and the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument just south of the Utah-Arizona line. "The cowboying we do is as real as anywhere in the country." And, to Heyneman, any talk otherwise is just so much bull. After all, cattle are cattle - even if they are "green cows." The Conservation Fund and Grand Canyon Trust bought the Kane and Two-Mile ranches - and the accompanying 860,000 acres of federal grazing permits - in September 2005 for $4.5 million. The price tag included 1,000 acres of deeded property and a ranch house, where Theodore Roosevelt and Buffalo Bill once stayed. The two ranches - now combined under the moniker North Rim Ranch - aim to blend multiple-land use, including livestock grazing, with land-restoration efforts....
Battle looms over water quality Ken Valentine's popularity took a nose dive last year when he began speaking out about water from coal-bed methane wells being dumped into the Apishapa River. The Las Animas County rancher believed the water was tainting the Apishapa with salt and managed to persuade fellow farm-club members to write to the state health department. The club later rescinded that letter, saying Valentine, a former club director, had misled them and that the energy industry - primarily Irving, Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. - was helping local farms and ranches, not hurting them. "The biggest problem with the Valentines is that they just don't want Pioneer on their land," said Tom Verquer, the club's current president. The farm-club spat is one sign of the growing tension among landowners in the Raton Basin over coal-bed methane development. ust like the Powder River basin in Wyoming, the Raton is home to ranchers who, for almost a decade, have been receiving coal-bed methane water for their livestock and to replenish streams used by the deer and elk valued by hunters....
Off-road mapping program takes on a sense of urgency Many off-road fans in Colorado are involved in an extensive program to map and identify their favorite roads and trails. In November 2005, the U.S. Forest Service introduced a regulation for recreational motor-vehicle use in national forests and grasslands. The "travel-management policy" requires every road, trail and area open to motor vehicles to be identified and designated on a map. The process, expected to take four years, is occurring in all 155 national forests and 20 grasslands. When the process is complete, each unit will publish a motor-vehicle-use map. There's a sense of urgency among those who drive off-road. "If we don't identify these roads, we could lose them," off-road fan Peter Belsky said. Once the roads and trails are identified and mapped, motor-vehicle use off the roads and outside the areas will be banned....
Off-road driving is one of America's fastest-growing trends in recreation But even more than his Jeep, Belsky loves the outdoors. "I can't get enough of it," he said. He gets as much as he can by driving his beloved Jeep on trails and roads throughout Colorado nearly every weekend. "I love it," he said. "You can see in a day of four-wheeling what you wouldn't see in a week of hiking." Belsky, entering his senior year at the University of Denver and president of the DU Off-Road Club, is hooked on four-wheeling. He was drawn to it for several reasons - that getting out in nature thing, his love of cars, and something else: "I've met some of my best friends through four-wheeling." The enterprising student isn't alone in his love of four- wheeling. You don't need to look further than the traffic heading to the mountains to realize off-road driving is one of the fastest-growing trends in recreation. A survey conducted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2004 showed nearly 48 million Americans turned their SUVs, ATVs and motorcycles off the pavement onto trails and roads on public lands that year. Nearly 2 million of those drivers headed to trails and backcountry roads in Colorado....
BLM keeping eye on competitive kayaking It was only a few weeks ago that a couple of us unwitting scofflaws stumbled over the dark side of the legal line, though, deciding it might be fun to paddle our kayaks in a head-to-head, um, "chase" to the bottom of the Gore Canyon section of the upper Colorado River near Kremmling. It was only yesterday that I discovered such race-like pursuits are not only frowned upon by the BLM, they can be quite expensive. To the tune of up to $1,000 in fines, not to mention jail time. "Competition is not a gray area. It's spelled out very clearly," Windsor explained. "If two people are competing, it's a race. If one person is competing against an established record, it's a race. Without a Special Recreation Permit (SRP), it's a violation of federal code. That's written in our guidance policy." That code may very well be put to the test this weekend, the traditional date of the annual Gore Canyon whitewater raft and kayak race that for the first time in recent history cannot be conducted legally because of the lack of the requisite SRP. Whether some facsimile of the more than 15-year tradition will be conducted at all remains to be seen. But rest assured that Windsor and the remainder of the BLM's Kremmling Field Office will be watching....
Feds Exempt 258 Million Acres From Environmental Review In a move decried by environmentalists, the Bureau of Land Management today exempted certain forestry, grazing, oil and gas, and recreation projects from environmental reviews if private interests propose project son 258 million acres of BLM lands. Environmentalists had opposed the two-year-old proposal, which was enacted today by James L. Caswell, who was confirmed by the Senate as the new BLM director Aug. 6. The expansion of the number of so-called “categorical exclusions” for certain forestry, grazing, oil and gas, and recreation activities means that those actions no longer need to undergo environmental review by the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The act requires a thorough review of federal decisions, so that any potential environmental damage can be prevented or mitigated. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the new categorical exclusions will “improve efficiency of environmental reviews.”....
Agent Green August is the peak of the wildfire season in the Western United States. Last year, over 8 million acres had burned by the end of the month, and this year you can expect the evening news to be filled with even more tragic stories about wildfires spreading across the West, devouring people and property. Who’s to blame? Fingers often point to the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which controls over 250 million acres of public lands, an eighth of the nation’s total land area. Perhaps that’s why the BLM recently announced new measures to prevent wildfires. The risk is that in calling for increased use of herbicides to control the growth of vegetation, the federal agency courts legal action by extremist environmental groups. Currently, BLM treats a mere 300,000 acres with herbicides to halt the spread of invasive vegetation—more commonly known as weeds. Weeds, particularly those that are not native to the area, are a constant threat. They degrade soil productivity and choke waterways, deprive livestock of food, crowd out native plant species and, perhaps worst of all, increase the risk of wildfires. Weeds on western public lands are estimated to be spreading at the alarming rate of over 2,300 acres per day....
Two years, two crashes: Latest aerial-hunting accident leads to GF&P review Looking back on those tense moments before the crash, Tony DeCino still doesn't know how things went so wrong so fast. The airplane was running fine. The wind was light. A low pass over the brown pastures of the Cheyenne River breaks put him and gunner Dan Turgeon within 50 yards of the furry targets below. And the 12-gauge shotgun bucked repeatedly against Turgeon's shoulder, firing clusters of heavy steel shot that sent two coyotes tumbling into the grass. To that point, it was a perfect run. "We'd killed both coyotes. We'd already pulled up, cleared the terrain and were in a descent to go back and check on the animals," DeCino said. "Over the course of a couple of seconds, things changed from perfectly fine to me trying to maneuver that airplane and us being in the dirt."....
Former E. Idaho elk rancher charged with violating private game rules A former Idaho elk rancher is facing more than $55,000 in fines for allegedly violating rules governing private hunting preserves. The Idaho Department of Agriculture is charging Rex Rammell with a series of infractions related to the way he operated his business between 2004 and 2006. The agency issued a 10-page order Friday. It accuses Rammell of not filing annual inventory reports, illegally transporting quarantined elk and neglecting to notify state officials when more than 100 elk escaped his pens near Rexburg last year. Rammell says the order is a response to a lawsuit he filed against the state earlier this year....
Pinedale raises concern about BLM drilling plan Pinedale, the town at the heart of western Wyoming's gas boom, doesn't support the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's preferred plan for gas drilling in the region over the next 15 to 20 years, environmentalists pointed out Tuesday. Town officials confirmed their concerns about the plan, saying they are especially worried about maintaining the long-term viability of the upper Green River Basin's gas industry. Drilling too much too quickly, they said, could perpetuate economic swings and hinder efforts to diversify the local economy beyond gas and oil. Comments the town has submitted to the BLM also said the BLM hasn't sufficiently considered the socio-economic effects of more drilling, such as increased traffic. The town's comment letter said downtown Pinedale is getting too much gas-related truck traffic as is. "It is the worst place imaginable for oversized industrial traffic," the letter said....
Blazes stretch firefighting resources in West Helicopters, air tankers and other resources are in short supply as wildfires continue to scorch the bone-dry West. Fire managers say they're sharing the best they can, but the onerous task of prioritizing the nation's largest fires and doling out resources falls on the shoulders of seven people who meet twice daily in an Idaho conference room. Known as the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group, its members represent federal land agencies like the Forest Service, as well as state foresters and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They look at everything from the size and danger of the fires to the weather forecast. It's a delicate balance, and one that's increasingly difficult as fire seasons start early and last longer, with available resources shrinking due to tight budgets, military conflicts and other issues....
State, feds target bison Jackson wildlife managers say they are anxious to start a bison hunt that could cull the local bison herd by 25 percent this year. Killing bison, they say, is an essential part of restoring habitat and helping prevent diseases in the Jackson Elk Herd. The statements came a day after Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal asked the federal government to help lift an injunction against bison hunting on the National Elk Refuge so the state can proceed with its planned bison hunt this fall. In a letter dated Aug. 10, Freudenthal asks Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to help appeal to a federal court. “While we, like the Fish and Wildlife Service, believe that the number of bison on the National Elk Refuge needs to be reduced to protect this environmentally-sensitive area, we are unwilling to risk being found in contempt for going forward with actions that are presently prohibited by a federal court order,” Freudenthal wrote. “At some point in the not-too-distant future, bison numbers on the NER will grow so high that a reduction to management quotas will result in a political backlash.” This spring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which runs the refuge, issued the 605-page environmental impact statement for a program to reduce numbers of both elk and bison through increased hunting. The plan would call for bison hunting as early as Aug. 25....
U.S.-Mexico discussions will tackle Colorado River issues The United States and Mexico have agreed to discuss a range of issues surrounding the Colorado River, a key water source for both nations, the U.S. Interior Department said Monday. U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne released a joint U.S.-Mexico statement saying the discussions would include the effects of climate change and drought; urban, agricultural and environmental water needs in both nations; wildlife habitat in the Colorado River Delta; and such programs as sea-water desalination to augment supplies. The statement said existing treaties should be used to "expedite discussions in coming weeks." Moody said Kempthorne and Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, directed their technical staffs to draw up an agenda, and it would be up to those two groups to establish the outlines of the issues. The Colorado River and its tributaries supply water to Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming....
Home Again on the Kitchen Range ON fancy china and in hot dog rolls and burger buns, buffalo is finally coming of age as an alternative red meat. But it almost didn’t happen. The first time buffalo ranching took off, in the 1990s, the public wasn’t ready. People wanted only the fancy steaks and burgers; the other cuts were seen as tough and gamy, and producers couldn’t give them away. In 2000 the market collapsed. Bulls that had sold for $2,100 were going for $500. The producers who held on until 2003 found a different climate as sales began to perk up. By then many Americans had started looking at their food with a more critical eye, and they were ready for buffalo, also called American bison. Today buffalo meat, shunned no longer, has achieved an enviable position: simultaneous praise from chefs, nutritionists and environmentalists. At last, steak without guilt....
Crocs trap Australian rancher up tree for a week An Australian rancher described Tuesday how he spent a week up a tree in a remote crocodile-infested swamp as maneaters stalked him -- after he fell off his horse. The manager of the Silver Plains cattle station in the far northeast Cape York peninsular, David George, said he watched crocodiles' eyes glowing red beneath him for seven nights before he was rescued by helicopter. "Every night I was stalked by two crocs who would sit at the bottom of the tree staring up at me," George told Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper. "All I could see was two sets of red eyes below me and all night I had to listen to a big bull croc bellowing a bit further out." "I'd yell out at them, 'I'm not falling out of this tree for you bastards'." George, 53, said his nightmare began when he was thrown by his horse. Dazed and bleeding, he climbed back into the saddle and gave the animal its head, expecting it to take him home. But later, in the pre-dawn darkness, he realized it had taken him more than a kilometer into the heart of a crocodile swamp....
FLE
Drug cartel-terrorist ties known in 2001 A former director of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned federal officials shortly after the September 11 attacks that violent drug cartels from Mexico were teaming with Muslim gangs to fund terrorist organizations overseas. Asa Hutchinson, who also has been a Homeland Security undersecretary, said that in 2001, DEA agents uncovered the link between the drug cartels and terrorist groups but too few government officials listened. "I think it's important to recognize that the link between terrorism and drug trafficking exists," said Mr. Hutchinson in a phone interview from Arkansas. "While we are fighting terrorists, we should not neglect our fight against drug traffickers. We shouldn't neglect it, because the link is there." Last week, The Washington Times disclosed a confidential DEA report substantiating the link between Islamist sleeper cells in the U.S. and Mexican drug cartels. The report, which included several documented U.S. investigations into the terrorist/cartel connection, stated that Middle Eastern operatives funded terrorist groups with drug money linked to Mexican cartels. Furthermore, the 2005 document suggests that some Islamist terrorists are disguising themselves as Hispanics....
Risk, rewards in military duty for illegal aliens What if we offered illegal immigrants a path to citizenship that included a stint in the U.S. military? The idea has been trumpeted by thoughtful people such as Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who thinks this is the time for a "freedom legion." He's talking about a unit of the military made up entirely of the foreign-born -- including illegal immigrants -- where the compensation would include U.S. citizenship. About 70,000 foreign-born men and women serve in the U.S. armed forces, or about 5 percent of the total active-duty force, according to the Pentagon. Of those, nearly 30,000 -- or about 43 percent -- are not U.S. citizens. Roping illegal immigrants into military service could accomplish two goals at once: helping alleviate the military's recruitment worries while giving the undocumented a chance to prove that their commitment to this country extends beyond a paycheck....
Border Patrol to build fencing The U.S. Border Patrol is asking for volunteers among its agents to help build fences on the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Bush is withdrawing half the National Guard troops he sent there last year to build fences. A memo circulated last week to Border Patrol sector chiefs said fence-building efforts on the Southwest border were going to fall short of Mr. Bush's goal of finishing 70 miles in fiscal 2007, which ends Sept. 30, "so the Border Patrol is now going back into the fence-building business." The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, called on the chiefs to provide lists of agents who "can and have built fences in the past," adding that the agency was looking for welders, equipment operators and "anyone else with construction experience." "They are moving quickly on this, so your sector's response will be needed back here by noon tomorrow," said the Aug. 6 memo, which asked that the entire Border Patrol be canvassed for agents qualified and able to work on fence construction....
Job seekers must obtain Homeland Security approval US citizens and other residents will require prior approval from Department of Homeland Security to get a job, under new immigration guidelines introduced by the Cabinet and sanctioned by President George W. Bush today. This requirement was initially part of the failed immigration bill which has now been "within the boundaries of existing law to secure our borders more effectively," according to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff And Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. The Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) has been renamed E-verify and will initially require more than 200,000 companies doing Federal business to use the system to establish employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security Numbers. Later the system will be expanded to cover all companies and will include photo screening features through agreements to allow E-Verify access to the repository of photographs in state Department Of Motor Vehicles databases. American Civil Liberties Union pointed out that the DHS's verification system is error plagued and if the department makes a mistake in determining work eligibility, there will be virtually no way to challenge the error or recover lost wages due to the bill’s prohibitions on judicial review....
Source Disclosure Ordered in Anthrax Suit Five reporters must reveal their government sources for stories they wrote about Steven J. Hatfill and investigators' suspicions that the former Army scientist was behind the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001, a federal judge ruled yesterday. The decision from U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton is yet another blow to the news industry as it seeks to shield anonymous sources who provide critical information -- especially on the secret inner workings of government. "The names of the sources are central to Dr. Hatfill's case," Walton wrote in a 31-page opinion. The ruling is a victory for Hatfill, a bioterrorism expert who has argued in a civil suit that the government violated his privacy rights and ruined his chances at a job by unfairly leaking information about the probe. He has not been charged in the attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others, and he has denied wrongdoing. Hatfill's suit, filed in 2003, accuses the government of waging a "coordinated smear campaign." To succeed, Hatfill and his attorneys have been seeking the identities of FBI and Justice Department officials who disclosed disparaging information about him to the media....
Gonzales could get say in states' executions The Justice Department is putting the final touches on regulations that could give Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales important new sway over death penalty cases in California and other states, including the power to shorten the time that death row inmates have to appeal convictions to federal courts. The rules implement a little-noticed provision in last year's reauthorization of the Patriot Act that gives the attorney general the power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases. The authority has been held by federal judges. Under the rules now being prepared, if a state requested it and Gonzales agreed, prosecutors could use "fast track" procedures that could shave years off the time that a death row inmate has to appeal to the federal courts after conviction in a state court....
Drug cartel-terrorist ties known in 2001 A former director of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned federal officials shortly after the September 11 attacks that violent drug cartels from Mexico were teaming with Muslim gangs to fund terrorist organizations overseas. Asa Hutchinson, who also has been a Homeland Security undersecretary, said that in 2001, DEA agents uncovered the link between the drug cartels and terrorist groups but too few government officials listened. "I think it's important to recognize that the link between terrorism and drug trafficking exists," said Mr. Hutchinson in a phone interview from Arkansas. "While we are fighting terrorists, we should not neglect our fight against drug traffickers. We shouldn't neglect it, because the link is there." Last week, The Washington Times disclosed a confidential DEA report substantiating the link between Islamist sleeper cells in the U.S. and Mexican drug cartels. The report, which included several documented U.S. investigations into the terrorist/cartel connection, stated that Middle Eastern operatives funded terrorist groups with drug money linked to Mexican cartels. Furthermore, the 2005 document suggests that some Islamist terrorists are disguising themselves as Hispanics....
Risk, rewards in military duty for illegal aliens What if we offered illegal immigrants a path to citizenship that included a stint in the U.S. military? The idea has been trumpeted by thoughtful people such as Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who thinks this is the time for a "freedom legion." He's talking about a unit of the military made up entirely of the foreign-born -- including illegal immigrants -- where the compensation would include U.S. citizenship. About 70,000 foreign-born men and women serve in the U.S. armed forces, or about 5 percent of the total active-duty force, according to the Pentagon. Of those, nearly 30,000 -- or about 43 percent -- are not U.S. citizens. Roping illegal immigrants into military service could accomplish two goals at once: helping alleviate the military's recruitment worries while giving the undocumented a chance to prove that their commitment to this country extends beyond a paycheck....
Border Patrol to build fencing The U.S. Border Patrol is asking for volunteers among its agents to help build fences on the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Bush is withdrawing half the National Guard troops he sent there last year to build fences. A memo circulated last week to Border Patrol sector chiefs said fence-building efforts on the Southwest border were going to fall short of Mr. Bush's goal of finishing 70 miles in fiscal 2007, which ends Sept. 30, "so the Border Patrol is now going back into the fence-building business." The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, called on the chiefs to provide lists of agents who "can and have built fences in the past," adding that the agency was looking for welders, equipment operators and "anyone else with construction experience." "They are moving quickly on this, so your sector's response will be needed back here by noon tomorrow," said the Aug. 6 memo, which asked that the entire Border Patrol be canvassed for agents qualified and able to work on fence construction....
Job seekers must obtain Homeland Security approval US citizens and other residents will require prior approval from Department of Homeland Security to get a job, under new immigration guidelines introduced by the Cabinet and sanctioned by President George W. Bush today. This requirement was initially part of the failed immigration bill which has now been "within the boundaries of existing law to secure our borders more effectively," according to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff And Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. The Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) has been renamed E-verify and will initially require more than 200,000 companies doing Federal business to use the system to establish employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security Numbers. Later the system will be expanded to cover all companies and will include photo screening features through agreements to allow E-Verify access to the repository of photographs in state Department Of Motor Vehicles databases. American Civil Liberties Union pointed out that the DHS's verification system is error plagued and if the department makes a mistake in determining work eligibility, there will be virtually no way to challenge the error or recover lost wages due to the bill’s prohibitions on judicial review....
Source Disclosure Ordered in Anthrax Suit Five reporters must reveal their government sources for stories they wrote about Steven J. Hatfill and investigators' suspicions that the former Army scientist was behind the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001, a federal judge ruled yesterday. The decision from U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton is yet another blow to the news industry as it seeks to shield anonymous sources who provide critical information -- especially on the secret inner workings of government. "The names of the sources are central to Dr. Hatfill's case," Walton wrote in a 31-page opinion. The ruling is a victory for Hatfill, a bioterrorism expert who has argued in a civil suit that the government violated his privacy rights and ruined his chances at a job by unfairly leaking information about the probe. He has not been charged in the attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others, and he has denied wrongdoing. Hatfill's suit, filed in 2003, accuses the government of waging a "coordinated smear campaign." To succeed, Hatfill and his attorneys have been seeking the identities of FBI and Justice Department officials who disclosed disparaging information about him to the media....
Gonzales could get say in states' executions The Justice Department is putting the final touches on regulations that could give Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales important new sway over death penalty cases in California and other states, including the power to shorten the time that death row inmates have to appeal convictions to federal courts. The rules implement a little-noticed provision in last year's reauthorization of the Patriot Act that gives the attorney general the power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases. The authority has been held by federal judges. Under the rules now being prepared, if a state requested it and Gonzales agreed, prosecutors could use "fast track" procedures that could shave years off the time that a death row inmate has to appeal to the federal courts after conviction in a state court....
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
NEWS ROUNDUP
Green Activists Plan Mass Action Against 'Climate Criminals' at Heathrow Hundreds of environmental activists will descend on Heathrow Airport this week to protest climate change supposedly caused by an expanding economy. They said they want to strike a blow against the "corporate climate criminals of the world." Organizers behind the Camp For Climate Action said they intend to open up a "temporary eco-village" next to one of the world's busiest airports on Tuesday, charging that it was time for governments and corporations to get serious about global warming. Proponents say air travel is a major contributory factor. Coming at the peak of the British vacation season, the camp will monitored by scores of police officers, potentially setting the stage for internationally televised clashes between demonstrators and law enforcers. On Sunday, an advance guard of 150 activists began setting up tents, compost toilets, and kitchens in a sports ground just north of the airport perimeter fence....
Twisted Science The complexities of global warming, (renamed as climate change) should be the domain of scientific discussions. Such discussions should be held within the constraints of science, the scientific methods, the careful collection, management, and analyses of the climate data. There should include careful resolutions and explanations of conflicting data, replication, and passing the essential demands of explaining the observations of the climate data. I have never been in discussions of science and engineering issues where these values weren’t highly respected and determinant. Even competing designs, processes, and theories were lightly defended since the common understanding was that the data would determine which was superior. In contrast, falsely representing the data supporting a particular theory or design, would have been severely dealt with and career limiting. We have been told by Al Gore and others that there should be a grand debate about global warming. Yet there has been precious little debate worthy of the name....
Newsweek v. Newsweek on global warming denial This week's cover story in Newsweek reports a "denial machine," bought and paid for by big industry, is preventing critical government action to stop global warming. Meanwhile, next week's issue of Newsweek contains a scathing report by longtime contributing editor Robert J. Samuelson characterizing the previous cover story as "highly contrived" and "fundamentally misleading." "We in the news business often enlist in moral crusades," writes Samuelson in a report that will hit newsstands next week. "Global warming is among the latest. Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. Last week's Newsweek cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder. It's an object lesson of how viewing the world as 'good guys vs. bad guys' can lead to a vast oversimplification of a messy story. Global warming has clearly occurred; the hard question is what to do about it."....
Home razing angering owners in New Orleans While Willie Ann Williams waited for federal aid to rebuild her home in the hurricane flooded 9th Ward, it was demolished — apparently by mistake. There was nothing left but bare dirt. A city official told her family the wood-frame house should not have been torn down, but no one has told them why it happened or what happens next. Williams had a building permit and wanted to fix up her house once she received money from the federally funded, state-run Road Home grant program. Now, with no house to repair, she's living in Franklinton, 70 miles away, and doesn't know whether she'll be able to come back, said Williams' daughter, Vonder McNeil. Confusion reigns with the approach of an Aug. 29 deadline — the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina — for the city to tell federal authorities which properties it wants demolished. Homes that were only damaged have wound up on a list of 1,700 condemned properties. Some houses on the list have been gutted for rebuilding or are in move-in condition. Angry homeowners are besieging City Council members and camping out at city offices. "Do Not Demolish" signs are posted on porches, and some owners are hiring lawyers for a possible legal fight....
Peer reviews flunk Bush administration plans for spotted owl The Bush administration's plans for saving the northern spotted owl from extinction have flunked a peer review by scientists. Under a contract with the administration, the Society for Conservation Biology and the American Ornithologists' Union said the government did not consider all the best available science, a requirement of the Endangered Species Act, before making room for more logging in old-growth forests. The organizations reviewed a draft recovery plan that rates the invasion of the barred owl into spotted owl territory a greater threat than habitat loss, as well as a proposal to reduce critical habitat for the owl by 22 percent. The two proposals are key to plans to bring back clearcut logging in old-growth forests on U.S. Bureau of Land Management forests in Western Oregon, aimed at increasing timber production and restoring timber revenue to county governments. The reviewers of the recovery plan said there appears to be a scientific consensus that the plans would not only fail to bring back owl populations but also would result in downgrading its status from threatened to endangered....
Study Shows Pronghorn Antelope Coexisting With Gas Wells at Current Development Levels As the fastest land animal in North America, the pronghorn antelope is also proving adaptable to science-informed development, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which has just released its second annual report on the interactions of pronghorn with oil and gas development in the Upper Green River Basin in Wyoming. Similar to the first annual report published last summer, the new data suggest that the population of the pronghorn antelope herds remain strong throughout the Anticline at the current level of development. The ongoing five-year study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) utilized input from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Upper Green River Basin in western Wyoming holds vast reserves of natural gas, including the Pinedale Anticline, which is the nation's second largest gas field. It is also home to several species of wildlife, including pronghorn antelope that rely on the Anticline for crucial wintering range. Researchers again did not detect any differences in survival rates or body mass of pronghorn captured in and among the gas fields (designated experimental animals) and those captured at sites far from petroleum activities (designated control animals)....
Teton County program introduces kids to the outdoors It's a sunny August afternoon, and 12 pre-teens are peering into running waters of the Snake River, picking out insects on their index fingers. "Which one is that?" they ask, running toward one another and a laminated index card with sketches of various bugs. Later, they will learn fly fishing techniques and raft down different portions of the famous Wyoming river. Meet "More Kids in the Woods," a program sponsored by various partners in Teton County including the Bridger-Teton National Forest. One of 24 national recipients, Bridger-Teton officials applied for the grant _ totaling $11,800, with local partners raising an additional $24,000 _ to allow kids to spend more time on public lands. "We decided that we have many kids in Jackson that may never have the chance to run the river, take a walk in the forest, etc.," said David Cernicek, river manager for the Bridger-Teton. Cernicek was responsible for applying for the "Healthy Kids, Healthy Watersheds" grant on the Bridger-Teton....
Blazes may have lasting effects on wildlife Long after the slurry bombers and helicopters go silent, the effects of this summer's explosive wildfire season on wildlife will continue to be felt for years to come. Utah's 805 wildland fires have scorched more than 689,495 acres as of Aug. 6, according to the Boise, Idaho-based National Interagency Fire Center. In the wake of the blazes, officials have begun assessing the effects on the state's wildlife as they continue planning the long-term healing process. Near Milford, high winds and temperatures pushed a wildfire across the landscape, quickly consuming everything in its path. Biologists counted dozens of dead deer and several smaller animals such as rabbits, blue grouse and turkeys on charred landscape, said Sean Kelly, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Wildlife Resources. "It burned in everything from the desert to the high peaks," said Kelly. "Most of the losses to wildlife were smaller mammals that couldn't get away." Officials expect much wildlife will be displaced to other areas where animals will likely compete for limited territory and food, Kelly said....
City reservoirs could help restore Rio Grande cutthroat Santa Fe’s reservoirs could help save New Mexico’s state fish if the city and the state Department of Game and Fish reach an agreement this fall. The state Department of Game and Fish wants to stock tagged Rio Grande cutthroat trout from the Seven Springs hatchery in the McClure and Nichols reservoirs. The two reservoirs east of Santa Fe supply up to 40 percent of the city’s drinking water and feed into the Santa Fe River. Under the plan, fisheries staff would collect the tagged trout in late spring from the reservoirs before they spawn, harvest the eggs and sperm, and grow the fish back at the hatchery, according to fisheries Director Mike Sloane. To ensure genetic purity “if we get a fish that looks like a cutthroat but isn’t tagged, we won’t collect it,” Sloane said....
Nitrogen overload On an overcast day in April, Stuart Weiss stood in the rolling hills of a Bay Area nature preserve and lifted a bag of nitrogen-based fertilizer to his shoulder. The heavy sack, the Menlo Park ecologist explained to the small crowd gathered in front of him, symbolized the unprecedented release of nitrogen into the Earth's air, land and water, and the insidious environmental changes under way globally from the potent fertilizer. At Edgewood Park in Redwood City, where he stood, nitrogen from vehicle exhaust on a nearby freeway has led to the demise of a threatened butterfly population, according to research Weiss conducted. The clear link he established between the exhaust and the butterflies' decline attracted international attention among the growing federation of scientists studying "nitrogen pollution." "I call it the biggest global change that nobody has ever heard of," Weiss said at the spring event. "The planet has never seen this much nitrogen at any time." Human activity now releases 125 million metric tons of nitrogen from agricultural activities and fossil fuel combustion a year, compared to 113 million metric tons annually from natural sources, according to a 2007 United Nations report called "Human Alteration of the Nitrogen Cycle."....
New book looks at maverick West Texan Williams Wildcatter, rancher, multimillionaire and more, West Texas businessman Clayton Williams may be best known for his run for governor in a campaign sunk by his gaffes. The 1990 governor's race was his to lose. And that's what he did, propelling liberal Democrat opponent Ann Richards to the state's top office. The Republican's outrageous remarks and multiple missteps are considered the textbook for how not to wage a political campaign. "If the Lord wanted me to be governor, he wouldn't have brought in that storm," Williams says of the comments that lost him votes and drew international attention to the race dubbed "Claytie and the Lady." A new authorized biography, "Claytie," by Texas author and former Associated Press correspondent Mike Cochran, chronicles not only Williams' brief political career, but also his highs and lows in the oil and gas industry, cattle ranching and the communications business. It portrays him as more clever and caring than his ham-handed campaign might allow....
It's All Trew: How legends are made Research recently turned up interesting facts about the parallel lives of two Panhandle men, one who became famous and the other who became lost in the annals of history. Strangely, the reason for the difference in the outcome of their lives was, believe it or not, about 500 feet in altitude. Now, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. Charles Goodnight, the famous man, and Henry W. Cresswell, the forgotten man, became acquainted when they both arrived in Pueblo, Colo. Goodnight established a ranching venture and Cresswell started a dairy and grain farm. As they prospered, they became good friends. In time, both owned and raised a lot of cattle, grazing them on open range east of Pueblo. Both became respected customers of the Thatcher Brothers Bank in Pueblo, which eventually grew into the largest financial institution in the area. As the range settled up and became over-grazed, both men sought new grass for their herds. Goodnight drove a large herd to the Canadian River in Texas with Cresswell going along to see and investigate the country. When Goodnight stopped in the Canadian breaks, Cresswell went on in a great circle to see the wide open spaces in the northern Texas Panhandle. He was convinced it would be good cattle country. Less than a year later, Cresswell brought his herd down the same trail as Goodnight traveled, settling just down the river from Adobe Walls and his friend, Goodnight....
Green Activists Plan Mass Action Against 'Climate Criminals' at Heathrow Hundreds of environmental activists will descend on Heathrow Airport this week to protest climate change supposedly caused by an expanding economy. They said they want to strike a blow against the "corporate climate criminals of the world." Organizers behind the Camp For Climate Action said they intend to open up a "temporary eco-village" next to one of the world's busiest airports on Tuesday, charging that it was time for governments and corporations to get serious about global warming. Proponents say air travel is a major contributory factor. Coming at the peak of the British vacation season, the camp will monitored by scores of police officers, potentially setting the stage for internationally televised clashes between demonstrators and law enforcers. On Sunday, an advance guard of 150 activists began setting up tents, compost toilets, and kitchens in a sports ground just north of the airport perimeter fence....
Twisted Science The complexities of global warming, (renamed as climate change) should be the domain of scientific discussions. Such discussions should be held within the constraints of science, the scientific methods, the careful collection, management, and analyses of the climate data. There should include careful resolutions and explanations of conflicting data, replication, and passing the essential demands of explaining the observations of the climate data. I have never been in discussions of science and engineering issues where these values weren’t highly respected and determinant. Even competing designs, processes, and theories were lightly defended since the common understanding was that the data would determine which was superior. In contrast, falsely representing the data supporting a particular theory or design, would have been severely dealt with and career limiting. We have been told by Al Gore and others that there should be a grand debate about global warming. Yet there has been precious little debate worthy of the name....
Newsweek v. Newsweek on global warming denial This week's cover story in Newsweek reports a "denial machine," bought and paid for by big industry, is preventing critical government action to stop global warming. Meanwhile, next week's issue of Newsweek contains a scathing report by longtime contributing editor Robert J. Samuelson characterizing the previous cover story as "highly contrived" and "fundamentally misleading." "We in the news business often enlist in moral crusades," writes Samuelson in a report that will hit newsstands next week. "Global warming is among the latest. Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. Last week's Newsweek cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder. It's an object lesson of how viewing the world as 'good guys vs. bad guys' can lead to a vast oversimplification of a messy story. Global warming has clearly occurred; the hard question is what to do about it."....
Home razing angering owners in New Orleans While Willie Ann Williams waited for federal aid to rebuild her home in the hurricane flooded 9th Ward, it was demolished — apparently by mistake. There was nothing left but bare dirt. A city official told her family the wood-frame house should not have been torn down, but no one has told them why it happened or what happens next. Williams had a building permit and wanted to fix up her house once she received money from the federally funded, state-run Road Home grant program. Now, with no house to repair, she's living in Franklinton, 70 miles away, and doesn't know whether she'll be able to come back, said Williams' daughter, Vonder McNeil. Confusion reigns with the approach of an Aug. 29 deadline — the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina — for the city to tell federal authorities which properties it wants demolished. Homes that were only damaged have wound up on a list of 1,700 condemned properties. Some houses on the list have been gutted for rebuilding or are in move-in condition. Angry homeowners are besieging City Council members and camping out at city offices. "Do Not Demolish" signs are posted on porches, and some owners are hiring lawyers for a possible legal fight....
Peer reviews flunk Bush administration plans for spotted owl The Bush administration's plans for saving the northern spotted owl from extinction have flunked a peer review by scientists. Under a contract with the administration, the Society for Conservation Biology and the American Ornithologists' Union said the government did not consider all the best available science, a requirement of the Endangered Species Act, before making room for more logging in old-growth forests. The organizations reviewed a draft recovery plan that rates the invasion of the barred owl into spotted owl territory a greater threat than habitat loss, as well as a proposal to reduce critical habitat for the owl by 22 percent. The two proposals are key to plans to bring back clearcut logging in old-growth forests on U.S. Bureau of Land Management forests in Western Oregon, aimed at increasing timber production and restoring timber revenue to county governments. The reviewers of the recovery plan said there appears to be a scientific consensus that the plans would not only fail to bring back owl populations but also would result in downgrading its status from threatened to endangered....
Study Shows Pronghorn Antelope Coexisting With Gas Wells at Current Development Levels As the fastest land animal in North America, the pronghorn antelope is also proving adaptable to science-informed development, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which has just released its second annual report on the interactions of pronghorn with oil and gas development in the Upper Green River Basin in Wyoming. Similar to the first annual report published last summer, the new data suggest that the population of the pronghorn antelope herds remain strong throughout the Anticline at the current level of development. The ongoing five-year study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) utilized input from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Upper Green River Basin in western Wyoming holds vast reserves of natural gas, including the Pinedale Anticline, which is the nation's second largest gas field. It is also home to several species of wildlife, including pronghorn antelope that rely on the Anticline for crucial wintering range. Researchers again did not detect any differences in survival rates or body mass of pronghorn captured in and among the gas fields (designated experimental animals) and those captured at sites far from petroleum activities (designated control animals)....
Teton County program introduces kids to the outdoors It's a sunny August afternoon, and 12 pre-teens are peering into running waters of the Snake River, picking out insects on their index fingers. "Which one is that?" they ask, running toward one another and a laminated index card with sketches of various bugs. Later, they will learn fly fishing techniques and raft down different portions of the famous Wyoming river. Meet "More Kids in the Woods," a program sponsored by various partners in Teton County including the Bridger-Teton National Forest. One of 24 national recipients, Bridger-Teton officials applied for the grant _ totaling $11,800, with local partners raising an additional $24,000 _ to allow kids to spend more time on public lands. "We decided that we have many kids in Jackson that may never have the chance to run the river, take a walk in the forest, etc.," said David Cernicek, river manager for the Bridger-Teton. Cernicek was responsible for applying for the "Healthy Kids, Healthy Watersheds" grant on the Bridger-Teton....
Blazes may have lasting effects on wildlife Long after the slurry bombers and helicopters go silent, the effects of this summer's explosive wildfire season on wildlife will continue to be felt for years to come. Utah's 805 wildland fires have scorched more than 689,495 acres as of Aug. 6, according to the Boise, Idaho-based National Interagency Fire Center. In the wake of the blazes, officials have begun assessing the effects on the state's wildlife as they continue planning the long-term healing process. Near Milford, high winds and temperatures pushed a wildfire across the landscape, quickly consuming everything in its path. Biologists counted dozens of dead deer and several smaller animals such as rabbits, blue grouse and turkeys on charred landscape, said Sean Kelly, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Wildlife Resources. "It burned in everything from the desert to the high peaks," said Kelly. "Most of the losses to wildlife were smaller mammals that couldn't get away." Officials expect much wildlife will be displaced to other areas where animals will likely compete for limited territory and food, Kelly said....
City reservoirs could help restore Rio Grande cutthroat Santa Fe’s reservoirs could help save New Mexico’s state fish if the city and the state Department of Game and Fish reach an agreement this fall. The state Department of Game and Fish wants to stock tagged Rio Grande cutthroat trout from the Seven Springs hatchery in the McClure and Nichols reservoirs. The two reservoirs east of Santa Fe supply up to 40 percent of the city’s drinking water and feed into the Santa Fe River. Under the plan, fisheries staff would collect the tagged trout in late spring from the reservoirs before they spawn, harvest the eggs and sperm, and grow the fish back at the hatchery, according to fisheries Director Mike Sloane. To ensure genetic purity “if we get a fish that looks like a cutthroat but isn’t tagged, we won’t collect it,” Sloane said....
Nitrogen overload On an overcast day in April, Stuart Weiss stood in the rolling hills of a Bay Area nature preserve and lifted a bag of nitrogen-based fertilizer to his shoulder. The heavy sack, the Menlo Park ecologist explained to the small crowd gathered in front of him, symbolized the unprecedented release of nitrogen into the Earth's air, land and water, and the insidious environmental changes under way globally from the potent fertilizer. At Edgewood Park in Redwood City, where he stood, nitrogen from vehicle exhaust on a nearby freeway has led to the demise of a threatened butterfly population, according to research Weiss conducted. The clear link he established between the exhaust and the butterflies' decline attracted international attention among the growing federation of scientists studying "nitrogen pollution." "I call it the biggest global change that nobody has ever heard of," Weiss said at the spring event. "The planet has never seen this much nitrogen at any time." Human activity now releases 125 million metric tons of nitrogen from agricultural activities and fossil fuel combustion a year, compared to 113 million metric tons annually from natural sources, according to a 2007 United Nations report called "Human Alteration of the Nitrogen Cycle."....
New book looks at maverick West Texan Williams Wildcatter, rancher, multimillionaire and more, West Texas businessman Clayton Williams may be best known for his run for governor in a campaign sunk by his gaffes. The 1990 governor's race was his to lose. And that's what he did, propelling liberal Democrat opponent Ann Richards to the state's top office. The Republican's outrageous remarks and multiple missteps are considered the textbook for how not to wage a political campaign. "If the Lord wanted me to be governor, he wouldn't have brought in that storm," Williams says of the comments that lost him votes and drew international attention to the race dubbed "Claytie and the Lady." A new authorized biography, "Claytie," by Texas author and former Associated Press correspondent Mike Cochran, chronicles not only Williams' brief political career, but also his highs and lows in the oil and gas industry, cattle ranching and the communications business. It portrays him as more clever and caring than his ham-handed campaign might allow....
It's All Trew: How legends are made Research recently turned up interesting facts about the parallel lives of two Panhandle men, one who became famous and the other who became lost in the annals of history. Strangely, the reason for the difference in the outcome of their lives was, believe it or not, about 500 feet in altitude. Now, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. Charles Goodnight, the famous man, and Henry W. Cresswell, the forgotten man, became acquainted when they both arrived in Pueblo, Colo. Goodnight established a ranching venture and Cresswell started a dairy and grain farm. As they prospered, they became good friends. In time, both owned and raised a lot of cattle, grazing them on open range east of Pueblo. Both became respected customers of the Thatcher Brothers Bank in Pueblo, which eventually grew into the largest financial institution in the area. As the range settled up and became over-grazed, both men sought new grass for their herds. Goodnight drove a large herd to the Canadian River in Texas with Cresswell going along to see and investigate the country. When Goodnight stopped in the Canadian breaks, Cresswell went on in a great circle to see the wide open spaces in the northern Texas Panhandle. He was convinced it would be good cattle country. Less than a year later, Cresswell brought his herd down the same trail as Goodnight traveled, settling just down the river from Adobe Walls and his friend, Goodnight....
FLE
Security firms working on devices to spot would-be terrorists in crowd Scientists and engineers have been asked to devise ways of analysing people's behaviour and physiology from afar, in the hope they may reveal clues about their mental state and even their future intentions. Under Project Hostile Intent, scientists will aim to build devices that can pick up tell-tale signs of hostile intent or deception from people's heart rates, perspiration and tiny shifts in facial expressions. The project was launched by the US department of homeland security with a call to security companies and government laboratories for assistance. According to the timetable set out, the new devices are expected to be trialled at a handful of airports, borders and ports of entry by 2012. The plans describe how systems based on video cameras, laserlight, infra-red, audio recordings and eye tracking technology are expected to scour crowds looking for unusual behaviour, with the aim of identifying people who should be approached and quizzed by security staff, New Scientist magazine reports. The project hopes to advance a security system already employed by the US transportation security administration that monitors people for unintentional facial twitches, called "micro-expressions", that can suggest someone is lying or trying to conceal information....
Secrecy may be spy program's defense The Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program has a built-in feature the Justice Department believes may shield it from ever being challenged as unconstitutional: secrecy. The administration has acknowledged it intercepted some U.S. telephone conversations without warrants as it hunted for terrorists. Whose calls? The government isn't saying. And since only those who were spied on have grounds to sue, it's almost impossible to mount a successful legal challenge. A federal appeals court in Ohio dismissed one such challenge last month because the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups could not prove the government had listened to their conversations. The court did not rule on whether the program was constitutional. Unless the government decides to release information about its wiretaps — as part of a criminal case, for example — the Justice Department said Monday the constitutional question may never be answered. A senior Justice Department official made the comments at a briefing before a hearing Wednesday in San Francisco, where lawyers are trying to challenge the program's legality. The official, who insisted on anonymity because of the pending litigation, said such challenges must first clear a difficult hurdle. "They would have to somehow get, through discovery or admission from government, that they had in fact been surveilled," the official said....
Upkeep Of Security Devices A Burden In 2003, the FBI used a $25 million grant to give bomb squads across the nation state-of-the-art computer kits, enabling them to instantly share information about suspected explosives, including weapons of mass destruction. Four years later, half of the Washington area's squads can't communicate via the $12,000 kits, meant to be taken to the scene of potential catastrophes, because they didn't pick up the monthly wireless bills and maintenance costs initially paid by the FBI. Other squads across the country also have given up using them. "They worked, and it was a good idea -- until the subscription ran out," said Mike Love, who oversees the bomb squad in Montgomery County's fire department. At the local level, he said, "there is not budget money for it." Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the area has received more than $1 billion in federal money to strengthen first responders and secure the region. That money has bought satellite phones, radios, protective suits, water-security monitors and a host of other items. But local officials are grappling with how to maintain the huge infusion of equipment....
Fear, Frenzy, and FISA Like Bill Murray's hapless weatherman in Groundhog Day, America is locked in a perpetual September 12, 2001. How else to explain this weekend's frenzied passage of a sweeping amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), effectively authorizing the program of extrajudicial wiretaps first approved in secret by President George W. Bush shortly after the terrorist attacks of 2001? How else to make sense of a Democratic Congress capitulating to the demands of a wildly unpopular executive for yet another expansion of government surveillance powers, mere months after the disclosure of the rampant abuses that followed the last such expansion? The hasty passage of the massive USA PATRIOT Act, a scant 45 days after those attacks, was ill-considered but understandable. Six years later, however, the administration has grown comfortable with the prerogatives panic affords. And, perversely, it has learned that it can continue to wield those prerogatives even under a Democratic majority, provided it insists on regarding Congress always and only as a last resort. Consider the provenance of this "emergency" legislation. President Bush first authorized the National Security Agency to carry out a range of surveillance activities without court order, the full scope of which is still unknown, but which at the least included monitoring communications between persons in the United States and targets abroad. (Wholly international communications had always been exempt from the privacy restrictions imposed by U.S. law.) When this was revealed by The New York Times late in 2005, the administration insisted that national security required that intelligence agents be allowed to bypass even the super-secret—and highly compliant—FISA courts. Then, following the 2006 midterm elections, which gave Democrats a congressional majority, the Department of Justice abruptly announced that it had found a way to work within FISA after all. Finally, according to The LA Times, a spring ruling by a FISA court judge found that even this restricted version of the six-year-old program ran afoul of the law. Suddenly it became urgent that Congress "modernize" what was invariably described as "the 1978 FISA statute," conjuring images of forlorn agents in white polyester leisure suits vainly hunting for al-Qaeda terrorists hidden under Pet Rocks. Yet FISA had already been updated dozens of times since its initial passage, including six major amendments since the September 11 attacks, giving the administration myriad opportunities to request all the "modernization" it required, subject to thorough public debate....
Security firms working on devices to spot would-be terrorists in crowd Scientists and engineers have been asked to devise ways of analysing people's behaviour and physiology from afar, in the hope they may reveal clues about their mental state and even their future intentions. Under Project Hostile Intent, scientists will aim to build devices that can pick up tell-tale signs of hostile intent or deception from people's heart rates, perspiration and tiny shifts in facial expressions. The project was launched by the US department of homeland security with a call to security companies and government laboratories for assistance. According to the timetable set out, the new devices are expected to be trialled at a handful of airports, borders and ports of entry by 2012. The plans describe how systems based on video cameras, laserlight, infra-red, audio recordings and eye tracking technology are expected to scour crowds looking for unusual behaviour, with the aim of identifying people who should be approached and quizzed by security staff, New Scientist magazine reports. The project hopes to advance a security system already employed by the US transportation security administration that monitors people for unintentional facial twitches, called "micro-expressions", that can suggest someone is lying or trying to conceal information....
Secrecy may be spy program's defense The Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program has a built-in feature the Justice Department believes may shield it from ever being challenged as unconstitutional: secrecy. The administration has acknowledged it intercepted some U.S. telephone conversations without warrants as it hunted for terrorists. Whose calls? The government isn't saying. And since only those who were spied on have grounds to sue, it's almost impossible to mount a successful legal challenge. A federal appeals court in Ohio dismissed one such challenge last month because the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups could not prove the government had listened to their conversations. The court did not rule on whether the program was constitutional. Unless the government decides to release information about its wiretaps — as part of a criminal case, for example — the Justice Department said Monday the constitutional question may never be answered. A senior Justice Department official made the comments at a briefing before a hearing Wednesday in San Francisco, where lawyers are trying to challenge the program's legality. The official, who insisted on anonymity because of the pending litigation, said such challenges must first clear a difficult hurdle. "They would have to somehow get, through discovery or admission from government, that they had in fact been surveilled," the official said....
Upkeep Of Security Devices A Burden In 2003, the FBI used a $25 million grant to give bomb squads across the nation state-of-the-art computer kits, enabling them to instantly share information about suspected explosives, including weapons of mass destruction. Four years later, half of the Washington area's squads can't communicate via the $12,000 kits, meant to be taken to the scene of potential catastrophes, because they didn't pick up the monthly wireless bills and maintenance costs initially paid by the FBI. Other squads across the country also have given up using them. "They worked, and it was a good idea -- until the subscription ran out," said Mike Love, who oversees the bomb squad in Montgomery County's fire department. At the local level, he said, "there is not budget money for it." Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the area has received more than $1 billion in federal money to strengthen first responders and secure the region. That money has bought satellite phones, radios, protective suits, water-security monitors and a host of other items. But local officials are grappling with how to maintain the huge infusion of equipment....
Fear, Frenzy, and FISA Like Bill Murray's hapless weatherman in Groundhog Day, America is locked in a perpetual September 12, 2001. How else to explain this weekend's frenzied passage of a sweeping amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), effectively authorizing the program of extrajudicial wiretaps first approved in secret by President George W. Bush shortly after the terrorist attacks of 2001? How else to make sense of a Democratic Congress capitulating to the demands of a wildly unpopular executive for yet another expansion of government surveillance powers, mere months after the disclosure of the rampant abuses that followed the last such expansion? The hasty passage of the massive USA PATRIOT Act, a scant 45 days after those attacks, was ill-considered but understandable. Six years later, however, the administration has grown comfortable with the prerogatives panic affords. And, perversely, it has learned that it can continue to wield those prerogatives even under a Democratic majority, provided it insists on regarding Congress always and only as a last resort. Consider the provenance of this "emergency" legislation. President Bush first authorized the National Security Agency to carry out a range of surveillance activities without court order, the full scope of which is still unknown, but which at the least included monitoring communications between persons in the United States and targets abroad. (Wholly international communications had always been exempt from the privacy restrictions imposed by U.S. law.) When this was revealed by The New York Times late in 2005, the administration insisted that national security required that intelligence agents be allowed to bypass even the super-secret—and highly compliant—FISA courts. Then, following the 2006 midterm elections, which gave Democrats a congressional majority, the Department of Justice abruptly announced that it had found a way to work within FISA after all. Finally, according to The LA Times, a spring ruling by a FISA court judge found that even this restricted version of the six-year-old program ran afoul of the law. Suddenly it became urgent that Congress "modernize" what was invariably described as "the 1978 FISA statute," conjuring images of forlorn agents in white polyester leisure suits vainly hunting for al-Qaeda terrorists hidden under Pet Rocks. Yet FISA had already been updated dozens of times since its initial passage, including six major amendments since the September 11 attacks, giving the administration myriad opportunities to request all the "modernization" it required, subject to thorough public debate....
Monday, August 13, 2007
SPLIT ESTATES
H.R. 3221, The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007, passed the House of Representatives on August 4th by a vote of 241 - 172.
Many in the West are interested in the split estate problems, and Section 7221 (see below) of H.R. 3221 attempts to address that issue. There is no similar provision in the Senate version of this legislation, so it will be decided in conference between the two houses. Those of you with an interest in this issue may want to contact your U.S. Senators.
For more information on the split estate issue go here.
SEC. 7221. SURFACE OWNER PROTECTION.
(a) Definitions- As used in this section--
(1) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior;
(2) the term `lease' means a lease issued by the Secretary under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);
(3) the term `lessee' means the holder of a lease; and
(4) the term `operator' means any person that is responsible under the terms and conditions of a lease for the operations conducted on leased lands or any portion thereof.
(b) Post-Lease Surface Use Agreement-
(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subsection (c), the Secretary may not authorize any operator to conduct exploration and drilling operations on lands with respect to which title to oil and gas resources is held by the United States but title to the surface estate is not held by the United States, until the operator has filed with the Secretary a document, signed by the operator and the surface owner or owners, showing that the operator has secured a written surface use agreement between the operator and the surface owner or owners that meets the requirements of paragraph (2).
(2) CONTENTS- The surface use agreement shall provide for--
(A) the use of only such portion of the surface estate as is reasonably necessary for exploration and drilling operations based on site-specific conditions;
(B) the accommodation of the surface estate owner to the maximum extent practicable, including the location, use, timing, and type of exploration and drilling operations, consistent with the operator's right to develop the oil and gas estate;
(C) the reclamation of the site to a condition capable of supporting the uses which such lands were capable of supporting prior to exploration and drilling operations or other uses as agreed to by the operator and the surface owner; and
(D) compensation for damages as a result of exploration and drilling operations, including but not limited to--
(i) loss of income and increased costs incurred;
(ii) damage to or destruction of personal property, including crops, forage, and livestock; and
(iii) failure to reclaim the site in accordance with this subparagraph (C).
(3) PROCEDURE-
(A) IN GENERAL- An operator shall notify the surface estate owner or owners of the operator's desire to conclude an agreement under this section. If the surface estate owner and the operator do not reach an agreement within 90 days after the operator has provided such notice, the matter shall be referred to third party arbitration for resolution within a period of 90 days. The cost of such arbitration shall be the responsibility of the operator.
(B) IDENTIFICATION OF ARBITERS- The Secretary shall identify persons with experience in conducting arbitrations and shall make this information available to operators and surface owners.
(C) REFERRAL TO IDENTIFIED ARBITER- Referral of a matter for arbitration by a person identified by the Secretary pursuant to subparagraph (B) shall be sufficient to constitute compliance with subparagraph (A).
(4) ATTORNEYS FEES- If action is taken to enforce or interpret any of the terms and conditions contained in a surface use agreement, the prevailing party shall be reimbursed by the other party for reasonable attorneys fees and actual costs incurred, in addition to any other relief which a court or arbitration panel may grant.
(c) Authorized Exploration and Drilling Operations-
(1) AUTHORIZATION WITHOUT SURFACE USE AGREEMENT- The Secretary may authorize an operator to conduct exploration and drilling operations on lands covered by subsection (b) in the absence of an agreement with the surface estate owner or owners, if--
(A) the Secretary makes a determination in writing that the operator made a good faith attempt to conclude such an agreement, including referral of the matter to arbitration pursuant to subsection (b)(3), but that no agreement was concluded within 90 days after the referral to arbitration;
(B) the operator submits a plan of operations that provides for the matters specified in subsection (b)(2) and for compliance with all other applicable requirements of Federal and State law; and
(C) the operator posts a bond or other financial assurance in an amount the Secretary determines to be adequate to ensure compensation to the surface estate owner for any damages to the site, in the form of a surety bond, trust fund, letter of credit, government security, certificate of deposit, cash, or equivalent.
(2) SURFACE OWNER PARTICIPATION- The Secretary shall provide surface estate owners with an opportunity to--
(A) comment on plans of operations in advance of a determination of compliance with this section;
(B) participate in bond level determinations and bond release proceedings under this subsection;
(C) attend an on-site inspection during such determinations and proceedings;
(D) file written objections to a proposed bond release; and
(E) request and participate in an on-site inspection when they have reason to believe there is a violation of the terms and conditions of a plan of operations.
(3) PAYMENT OF FINANCIAL GUARANTEE- A surface estate owner with respect to any land subject to a lease may petition the Secretary for payment of all or any portion of a bond or other financial assurance required under this subsection as compensation for any damages as a result of exploration and drilling operations. Pursuant to such a petition, the Secretary may use such bond or other guarantee to provide compensation to the surface estate owner for such damages.
(4) BOND RELEASE- Upon request and after inspection and opportunity for surface estate owner review, the Secretary may release the financial assurance required under this subsection if the Secretary determines that exploration and drilling operations have ended and all damages have been fully compensated.
(d) Surface Owner Notification- The Secretary shall--
(1) notify surface estate owners in writing at least 45 days in advance of lease sales;
(2) within ten working days after a lease is issued, notify surface estate owners regarding the identity of the lessee;
(3) notify surface estate owners in writing within 10 working days concerning any subsequent decisions regarding a lease, such as modifying or waiving stipulations and approving rights-of-way; and
(4) notify surface estate owners within five business days after issuance of a drilling permit under a lease.
(e) Regulations- The Secretary shall issue regulations implementing this section by not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(f) Relationship to State Law- Nothing in this section preempts applicable State law or regulation relating to surface owner protection.
H.R. 3221, The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007, passed the House of Representatives on August 4th by a vote of 241 - 172.
Many in the West are interested in the split estate problems, and Section 7221 (see below) of H.R. 3221 attempts to address that issue. There is no similar provision in the Senate version of this legislation, so it will be decided in conference between the two houses. Those of you with an interest in this issue may want to contact your U.S. Senators.
For more information on the split estate issue go here.
SEC. 7221. SURFACE OWNER PROTECTION.
(a) Definitions- As used in this section--
(1) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior;
(2) the term `lease' means a lease issued by the Secretary under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);
(3) the term `lessee' means the holder of a lease; and
(4) the term `operator' means any person that is responsible under the terms and conditions of a lease for the operations conducted on leased lands or any portion thereof.
(b) Post-Lease Surface Use Agreement-
(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subsection (c), the Secretary may not authorize any operator to conduct exploration and drilling operations on lands with respect to which title to oil and gas resources is held by the United States but title to the surface estate is not held by the United States, until the operator has filed with the Secretary a document, signed by the operator and the surface owner or owners, showing that the operator has secured a written surface use agreement between the operator and the surface owner or owners that meets the requirements of paragraph (2).
(2) CONTENTS- The surface use agreement shall provide for--
(A) the use of only such portion of the surface estate as is reasonably necessary for exploration and drilling operations based on site-specific conditions;
(B) the accommodation of the surface estate owner to the maximum extent practicable, including the location, use, timing, and type of exploration and drilling operations, consistent with the operator's right to develop the oil and gas estate;
(C) the reclamation of the site to a condition capable of supporting the uses which such lands were capable of supporting prior to exploration and drilling operations or other uses as agreed to by the operator and the surface owner; and
(D) compensation for damages as a result of exploration and drilling operations, including but not limited to--
(i) loss of income and increased costs incurred;
(ii) damage to or destruction of personal property, including crops, forage, and livestock; and
(iii) failure to reclaim the site in accordance with this subparagraph (C).
(3) PROCEDURE-
(A) IN GENERAL- An operator shall notify the surface estate owner or owners of the operator's desire to conclude an agreement under this section. If the surface estate owner and the operator do not reach an agreement within 90 days after the operator has provided such notice, the matter shall be referred to third party arbitration for resolution within a period of 90 days. The cost of such arbitration shall be the responsibility of the operator.
(B) IDENTIFICATION OF ARBITERS- The Secretary shall identify persons with experience in conducting arbitrations and shall make this information available to operators and surface owners.
(C) REFERRAL TO IDENTIFIED ARBITER- Referral of a matter for arbitration by a person identified by the Secretary pursuant to subparagraph (B) shall be sufficient to constitute compliance with subparagraph (A).
(4) ATTORNEYS FEES- If action is taken to enforce or interpret any of the terms and conditions contained in a surface use agreement, the prevailing party shall be reimbursed by the other party for reasonable attorneys fees and actual costs incurred, in addition to any other relief which a court or arbitration panel may grant.
(c) Authorized Exploration and Drilling Operations-
(1) AUTHORIZATION WITHOUT SURFACE USE AGREEMENT- The Secretary may authorize an operator to conduct exploration and drilling operations on lands covered by subsection (b) in the absence of an agreement with the surface estate owner or owners, if--
(A) the Secretary makes a determination in writing that the operator made a good faith attempt to conclude such an agreement, including referral of the matter to arbitration pursuant to subsection (b)(3), but that no agreement was concluded within 90 days after the referral to arbitration;
(B) the operator submits a plan of operations that provides for the matters specified in subsection (b)(2) and for compliance with all other applicable requirements of Federal and State law; and
(C) the operator posts a bond or other financial assurance in an amount the Secretary determines to be adequate to ensure compensation to the surface estate owner for any damages to the site, in the form of a surety bond, trust fund, letter of credit, government security, certificate of deposit, cash, or equivalent.
(2) SURFACE OWNER PARTICIPATION- The Secretary shall provide surface estate owners with an opportunity to--
(A) comment on plans of operations in advance of a determination of compliance with this section;
(B) participate in bond level determinations and bond release proceedings under this subsection;
(C) attend an on-site inspection during such determinations and proceedings;
(D) file written objections to a proposed bond release; and
(E) request and participate in an on-site inspection when they have reason to believe there is a violation of the terms and conditions of a plan of operations.
(3) PAYMENT OF FINANCIAL GUARANTEE- A surface estate owner with respect to any land subject to a lease may petition the Secretary for payment of all or any portion of a bond or other financial assurance required under this subsection as compensation for any damages as a result of exploration and drilling operations. Pursuant to such a petition, the Secretary may use such bond or other guarantee to provide compensation to the surface estate owner for such damages.
(4) BOND RELEASE- Upon request and after inspection and opportunity for surface estate owner review, the Secretary may release the financial assurance required under this subsection if the Secretary determines that exploration and drilling operations have ended and all damages have been fully compensated.
(d) Surface Owner Notification- The Secretary shall--
(1) notify surface estate owners in writing at least 45 days in advance of lease sales;
(2) within ten working days after a lease is issued, notify surface estate owners regarding the identity of the lessee;
(3) notify surface estate owners in writing within 10 working days concerning any subsequent decisions regarding a lease, such as modifying or waiving stipulations and approving rights-of-way; and
(4) notify surface estate owners within five business days after issuance of a drilling permit under a lease.
(e) Regulations- The Secretary shall issue regulations implementing this section by not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(f) Relationship to State Law- Nothing in this section preempts applicable State law or regulation relating to surface owner protection.
NEWS ROUNDUP
Fight Global Warming by Taxing 'McMansions,' Dingell Says The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week announced a plan to fight global warming by reducing carbon emissions up to 80 percent by the year 2050. This would be done by raising gasoline taxes 50 cents per gallon and ending mortgage tax deductions on large houses, which the Michigan Democrat called "McMansions." During town hall meetings in Ann Arbor and in Dearborn, Rep. John Dingell said he will make these proposals as part of a multi-tiered bill he will introduce on Sept. 1 in his committee, which handles legislation dealing with global warming. Some home-contracting firms, however, criticized Dingell's proposal as misguided and economically detrimental. And some conservative tax experts agreed, noting that Americans already pay too much in taxes and raising taxes more will only curtail consumption and investment. But the congressman's most controversial recommendation was to take away the mortgage interest deduction for "McMansions," which he defined as homes larger than 3,000 square feet and which use more energy than smaller houses. Dingell was joined at the town hall meetings by representatives from several environmental groups, including Clean Water Action, the Ecology Center, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Wildlife Federation and Environment Michigan....
Sens. seek to safeguard Piñon land Responding to widespread fear the Army will seize land to expand its Piñon Canyon training site, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar said he will write legislation to block mandatory property sales. The Democratic senator said in an interview that he is considering a measure that would not only insulate property owners but force the Army to say what it is doing with its current property and why it needs more land. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard also has hardened his position. Allard is negotiating with the Army on legislation that would offer assurances to landowners who do not want to sell, a top aide said. The willingness of the two senators to step in now, after weeks of saying they wanted to balance conflicting needs of the Army and residents, could alter the military's plan for growth. "The Army has told me that they only want to purchase land from willing sellers," Salazar said. "If that's the case, we ought to put it into law." The fight over expanding the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site by more than 400,000 acres heats up next month when the Senate returns from its August break....
"No one is neutral" in water fight Out on the CX Ranch - a patch of ponderosa-pine prairie straddling the Wyoming-Montana border - water is hard to come by. So a few years ago, when an energy company approached ranch manager Chuck Larsen with the idea of using water from its coal-bed methane gas wells, the burly cowboy didn't hesitate. Today, on 37 lush, green acres, Larsen is growing 3 to 4 tons a year of alfalfa irrigated with water pumped out of an underground coal seam. "Without the water, that field wouldn't be here," Larsen said. About 120 miles southeast of Larsen's spread, Ed Swartz is convinced coal-bed methane water isn't saving his ranch, but ruining it. In October 1999, Wildcat Creek, usually just a trickle, was swamped, flooding the Swartz Ranch with coal-bed methane water. "The water just kept running for over a year, and I noticed my trees started dying," Swartz said. "It was garbage water." As far as Wyoming sheep rancher Pat O'Toole is concerned, the worst thing anyone could do with coal-bed methane water is waste it. Over the next eight years, up to 450,000 barrels of water a day are projected to be produced in southern Wyoming's Atlantic Rim Basin, where a major coal-bed methane reserve has been discovered. The federal government wants companies to reinject the water into the ground....
Energy bill targets Wyo issues While the recently passed House energy bill would make a nationwide push toward cleaner fuels, it also contains less-publicized provisions that could have an on-the-ground impact on energy development in Western states. Conservationists pushed to include measures that would slow oil and gas drilling on public lands, while the industry lobbied to have them taken out. The compromise struck in the House bill will be fought over during final negotiations with the Senate, which did not include the measures. The overall House bill would require electric utilities to produce 15 percent of their power from renewable sources such as wind, solar or biomass by 2020. It also would repeal $16 billion in tax breaks over 10 years for the oil and gas industry, using the money for renewable fuels and efficiency programs. Other provisions would raise the fee for permits to drill on public lands, give surface owners more rights on so-called "split estates," increase the dollar amount of bonds for development on public lands and increase water regulations for energy developers. The bill has drawn a range of reactions....
Changes to mine law may shake state In the 1890s, when prospectors came from across the nation to Cripple Creek with gold nuggets in their eyes, the government sold them land for $5 an acre, and often less. A century later, when a mining company wanted land in Crested Butte — a resort town where new homes go for $1 million — it got the same bargain. That’s because the law governing mineral mining on federal land hasn’t changed significantly in 135 years. The General Mining Law of 1872, meant to help settle the West, still says miners can stake claims and buy public land at a price capped at $5 an acre, with no royalties, little environmental regulation and few options for federal agencies to deny their applications. This year, the Democrat-controlled Congress is taking aim at the law, an effort that has pitted lawmakers against the Bush administration and environmentalists against the mining industry. The mining law played a major role in shaping Colorado. With 20,300 active mineral claims on federal land here — not to mention 2,600 abandoned mines, many of them sources of pollution — and mining companies taking a new interest in Colorado’s uranium deposits, a rewrite of the law could have a wide-ranging im- pact here....
Rio Grande Gorge: Bighorns return home to historic range For the hunters and gatherers who called Northern New Mexico home in prehistoric times, seeing Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep roam from the state’s highest peaks down the 800-foot basalt cliffs that form the Rio Grande Gorge was part of life. Petroglyphs chiseled into boulders up and down the river depict big-horned mammals, but it was long ago that the majestic animals disappeared from the area. On Saturday, state and federal wildlife managers took a step toward reintroducing the past as they lifted the latch on a livestock trailer and a group of bighorn sheep — after a bit of hesitation — thundered out, kicking up dust and scrambling one after the other as they made their way up the rocks. “They belong here. They’re part of the diversity,” said Sam DesGeorges, head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s field office in Taos. “Having the habitat and the animals that occupy that habitat is very important biologically.”....
National forests battle damage Near a rock formation twisting into the Arizona sky, the desert floor has been torn up by off-road vehicles. There's a tattered VCR and a bullet-riddled washing machine lying in a heap. Unscrupulous visitors have chosen this spot filled with prickly green cacti in the Tonto National Forest outside Phoenix to tear up with their ATVS, illegally dump garbage and shoot guns. Many national forests, especially ones near burgeoning metropolises, are suffering from the environmental damage similar to what is happening in the Tonto. With fewer employees and a tight budget, the U.S. Forest Service is struggling to keep up. The proposed fiscal year 2007 budget was 2.5% lower than 2006, although actual spending hasn't yet been finalized, said spokeswoman Angela Coleman. Fire suppression now eats up about 40% of its annual budget, meaning programs dealing with everything from visitor education to maintenance have been cut back, said Cecilia Clavet, an associate at the Wilderness Society in Washington D.C., who researches Forest Service issues....Oh, the poor things. It was Forest management policies, some of which were forced on the agency via lawsuits by environmental outfits like the Wilderness Society, that created the fire hazards we face today. If almost half their budget is spent on fighting fires, they have no one to blame but themselves.
Burning Man and Yucca Mountain not what they seem Burning Man and Yucca Mountain have something in common - both are highly dubious projects in the Nevada desert. Let me explain. Burning Man, the annual naked drug festival co-sponsored by San Francisco-based Black Rock City LLC and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), will take place over the Labor Day weekend in the Black Rock Desert near Gerlach. It will attract some 40,000 "free spirits" who will pay between $250 and $400 apiece for the "privilege" of baking in the sun for three or four days. Doing the math, it's clear that the festival will gross more than $10 million for its aging hippie organizers. And the BLM will rake in about a million dollars - last year's BLM take was approximately $843,000 - for looking the other way as participants do drugs and get naked in the presence of young children. For years the Burners have claimed that their event is nonprofit and non-commercial and that they're dedicated to art and assorted consciousness-raising activities. But seven-time Burner Chris Taylor, who writes for the techie magazine "Business 2.0," has revealed the truth about the festival in the July issue of that magazine. Taylor confirms that Burning Man is a $10 million business that is now seeking corporate sponsorships. So much for the high-minded New Age baloney that Burning Man organizers "lord Larry" Harvey and "Maid Marian" Goodell peddle to the media every summer....
Butte couple escape bear attack on camper Bruce Hemphill has nothing against a midnight snack. He just doesn't want to become one. Last weekend, Bruce and his wife, Pat, believed they almost became a snack as a large black bear tried to claw its way into their camper. "It was probably the most scared I've ever been in my life," Hemphill said. The Butte couple was camping in the Lowland Campground, 8 miles north of Butte off Interstate 15, when they had a rude awakening about 3 a.m. Sunday. Their entire camper started violently shaking, Hemphill said. "It felt like an earthquake or something, everything was shaking," he recalled Thursday. He would have preferred an earthquake. Instead, he encountered a black bear. The bear had climbed up the hood of his truck on top of his camper. He saw the animal through the roof vent, which he had left open before going to bed. He quickly tried to reel the vent closed, but the bear whacked the aluminum vent cover with its paw, bending it as easily as tin foil. The bear then clawed through a bug screen in the vent....
BLM fills three key leadership positions The Bureau of Land Management has announced the appointment of three career professionals to key leadership positions in the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters. Edwin L. Roberson, currently serving as manager of the BLM's Las Cruces District in New Mexico, will be the new assistant director for Renewable Resources and Planning; Michael D. "Mike" Nedd, who was director of the agency's Eastern States Office in Springfield, Va., is now assistant director for Minerals, Realty, and Resource Protection; and Celia Boddington, who headed the bureau's Washington, D.C., Public Affairs Office for more than a decade, becomes assistant director for communications. "I am very pleased to announce the appointment of these high-caliber individuals to key positions in our agency," said BLM Deputy Director Jim Hughes. "All three bring with them proven management skills of the highest order and years of experience with the Bureau."....
Feds respond to lawsuit over grizzly protection The federal government has responded to seven environmental groups that filed suit recently, seeking to restore endangered species protections for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone area. In a document filed in U.S. District Court, federal lawyers argued the environmental groups were wrong in their allegations. They said the groups were not entitled to any legal relief, and that they may not have standing to bring a lawsuit. Plaintiffs include the Western Watersheds Project, the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. They're challenging the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to lift the "threatened" status of 500 to 600 bears in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho....
Montana brings sage grouse concerns into oil and gas decisions Montana officials are imposing a new restriction on the oil and gas industry that gives more say to state wildlife biologists who have sought to slow energy development to protect an imperiled bird, the greater sage grouse. The restriction - criticized as a potential new hurdle for companies seeking to do business in Montana - underscores the state's shift away from neighboring states and provinces that embraced aggressive energy policies to maximize economic returns. Across the Rocky Mountain West, from New Mexico to Alberta, Canada, a boom in exploration this decade has sparked a backlash from environmental and conservation groups. They claim game animal populations have suffered from a proliferation of oil and gas wells in once-undeveloped areas. In Montana, those groups are finding allies in state agencies under Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. During Schweitzer's tenure, the state has charted a more circumspect course for development, giving greater weight to potential negative effects on wildlife and the environment....
Discord threatens Klamath River water talks But as the projected November deadline for a deal moves steadily nearer, environmental and Indian tribal leaders are raising concerns that the pact that everyone so desperately wants is in danger of slipping away because of what they see as political manipulation. "Whatever comes out of these negotiations has to have a scientific basis, rather than a political basis," said Clifford Lyle Marshall, Hoopa Valley Tribe chairman. "There were political strings being pulled before the negotiations started -- and they are still in play." Critics warn that the evolving 60-year agreement is being shaped by Bush administration officials and is looking more and more like a $250 million-plus gift to irrigators, assuring them of ample water and subsidized power to pump it in exchange for a huge but possibly elusive environmental victory -- knocking down four dams on the river. The hydroelectric dams are owned by Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp, which is no longer involved in the talks. Greg Addington, director of the Klamath Water Users Association and a strong advocate of a negotiated settlement, said he was disappointed that critics are beginning to go public before a deal is done. "I'd hope that we could work these things out amongst ourselves and not in the media," he said. But he added that even among irrigators there are "big concerns," despite assurances of water and subsidized power....
Hunter, angler numbers decline Fewer Americans are hunting and fishing today than 10 and 5 years ago. Preliminary results of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation were released Thursday – a survey taken every five years – and it continues to show a decline in hunting and fishing across the country. Nationally, there were 12 percent fewer anglers in 2006 than five years ago. The number of hunters fell by 4 percent for that same time period. Wildlife watching around the house – which includes anyone who gazes at birds at a backyard feeder – increased 8 percent. The number of people willing to travel to see wildlife increased by 5 percent. There are a myriad of reasons for this trend. Hunting and fishing is more expensive than watching wildlife....
Rails trail to pass Bridal Veil Falls When the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railroad ran trains to Cloudcroft, the conductor would often stop at the foot of Bridal Veil Falls to give the passengers a chance to view the 40-foot waterfall. Now that New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association has bought two easements that include the waterfall, volunteers have begun the work of converting the old railroad bed into a trail for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. Money for this purchase came from an $180,000 grant from the New Mexico Recreational Trails Program, with matching funds and labor from the USDA Forest Service and NMRTA. Bridal Veil Falls Trail will link the Salado Canyon Trestle Trail to the Grand View Trail, for a total length of about 4.5 miles. Eventually this segment of the planned 68-mile Enchanted Trail will be connected to the 35.5 miles of existing trail between the Harkey Pedestrian Bridge and Oliver Lee State Park....
Farmers object to feds' hiring crackdown Farmers say a crackdown on hiring of illegal workers announced Friday by the Bush administration will cripple California agriculture. The state's $32 billion industry relies heavily on immigrant workers, many of whom are in the country illegally. "This isn't going to work. It is going to put people out of business," said Guillermo Zamora, a Fresno County farm labor contractor who hires about 200 workers a year to harvest crops. Under new rules announced by the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, employers will have 90 days to prove their workers are legal residents. If they miss the deadline, they must terminate the employee. They could be fined up to $10,000 per worker for failing to follow the rules. Construction, janitorial and landscaping companies and hotels and restaurants also rely on illegal workers. The new rules take effect in 30 days. "We are concerned that the new regulations will result in employers in numerous industries having to let workers go as the economy is facing an increasingly tight labor market," John Gay of the National Restaurant Association told The Associated Press....
Horses die near pipeline The deaths of 27 horses owned by a Malta rancher are being investigated to see whether there is any link to a leak discovered in an underground natural gas pipeline. Crews performing routine maintenance checks Aug. 3 on the pipeline owned by Williams Northwest Pipeline discovered 16 horse carcasses on Benjamin Bartlett's ranch, Michele Swaner, company spokeswoman, told the South Idaho Press. Swaner said the company immediately notified Bartlett and the Cassia County sheriff. Over the next several days, 11 more carcasses were found, she said. The company discovered a nickel-sized hole in the pipeline Thursday, and Swaner said that section was repaired and put back in service. Veterinarian Ward Wallace, of Burley, tested the carcasses last week, but said the time between death and his tests makes it nearly impossible to tell if natural gas played a role....
Nitrates may have killed test site horses Diagnostic and toxicology results indicate that nitrate toxicity is the most likely cause of death in July for 71 wild horses managed by the Bureau of Land Management on the Nevada Wild Horse Range. High levels of nitrates were found in some water samples taken from a pond the horses used for drinking on a dry lake bed and also in the deceased horses’ blood serum and ocular fluid. Water test results indicated nitrate levels of more than 3,000 parts per million. The United States Health Service standard for drinking water for human consumption is less than 45 ppm. Livestock can tolerate higher levels but problems are known to occur when levels exceed 400 ppm and acceptable levels should be below 100 ppm. Acute nitrate toxicity in horses is not well understood and there haven’t been many instances of it reported. There is no indication that the problem is attributable to a contagious or infectious disease....
Stream may have spread foot and mouth The investigation into the foot and mouth outbreak is now focusing on a stream running through the two infected farms. Officials, meanwhile, have confirmed that a third farm being tested for the virus, 12 miles from the outbreak in Surrey, is free of the disease. The stream involved runs past an allotment used by a senior employee of the pharmaceutical company linked to the outbreak, before passing through nearby fields used by the two farms hit by the virus. Merial UK, which shares the Pirbright high-security laboratory site with the government-funded Institute for Animal Health, also admitted that blue chemical barrels scattered on the allotment had not been decontaminated before being taken off the site. Villagers in Normandy, Surrey, where the first case in the outbreak occurred, think the virus may have passed from the barrels on the allotment into the stream, contaminating water drunk by animals downstream. Investigators are now convinced the virus came from the Pirbright labs. A government report said the strain of the virus found was held in only a handful of labs around the world. Pirbright was the nearest and the next was in Belgium....
Insider reveals lax security at bio-lab A WORKER has raised concerns about bio-security at the state-owned research complex where the foot and mouth outbreak is believed to have originated. Percy Ravate, a contract worker, was struck down with life-threatening Legionnaires’ disease, which he believes he caught while repairing pipework at the Pirbright complex in Surrey. He said basic health and safety procedures were flouted, he was allowed to roam around laboratories and security measures such as checking visitors were not enforced. His allegations came as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continued investigations into a senior scientist at the complex who had an allotment neighbouring the field in which the first case of foot and mouth was identified. He had been using chemical drums – thought to be from the complex – as plant tubs....
Practice of 'tail docking' draws foes On the one hand, it’s hard to watch youngsters dissolve into tears when months of work with a lamb is disqualified in moments at the Wyoming State Fair. But on the other hand, veterinarians, fair leadership and lamb industry reps can’t stand by and see an animal placed at risk for serious health problems and even death, just to look better in the show ring. As a compromise in an ongoing controversy over proper tail docking lengths on market lambs at the fair, a new rule this year should ease some of the tension for the young exhibitors while ensuring that any animal chosen as a champion will meet health standards. Breeders have docked, or cut, lamb tails for years. Ranchers with stock on the open prairie started the practice to prevent range conditions that could prove deadly to animals, Douglas veterinarian Dr. Dean Smylie explained. The issue now is over the length of the tail remaining after docking. In the past decade some breeders started cutting tails closer to the quick, possibly in response to judges who found the shorter tails visually appealing, even on an animal destined for market....
Beheaded rattlesnake bites rancher Turns out, even beheaded rattlesnakes can be dangerous. That's what 53-year-old Danny Anderson learned as he was feeding his horses Monday night, when a more than a metre-long rattler slithered onto his central Washington property, about 80 kilometres southeast of Yakima. Mr. Anderson and his 27-year-old son, Benjamin, pinned the snake with an irrigation pipe and cut off its head with a shovel. A few more strikes to the head left it sitting under a pickup truck. “When I reached down to pick up the head, it raised around and did a backflip almost, and bit my finger,” Mr. Anderson said. “I had to shake my hand real hard to get it to let loose.” His wife insisted they go to the hospital, and by the time they arrived at Prosser Memorial Hospital 10 minutes later, Mr. Anderson's tongue was swollen and the venom was spreading. He then was taken by ambulance 50 kilometres to a Richland hospital to get the full series of six shots he needed. The snake head ended up in the bed of his pickup, and Mr. Anderson landed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon....
Fight Global Warming by Taxing 'McMansions,' Dingell Says The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week announced a plan to fight global warming by reducing carbon emissions up to 80 percent by the year 2050. This would be done by raising gasoline taxes 50 cents per gallon and ending mortgage tax deductions on large houses, which the Michigan Democrat called "McMansions." During town hall meetings in Ann Arbor and in Dearborn, Rep. John Dingell said he will make these proposals as part of a multi-tiered bill he will introduce on Sept. 1 in his committee, which handles legislation dealing with global warming. Some home-contracting firms, however, criticized Dingell's proposal as misguided and economically detrimental. And some conservative tax experts agreed, noting that Americans already pay too much in taxes and raising taxes more will only curtail consumption and investment. But the congressman's most controversial recommendation was to take away the mortgage interest deduction for "McMansions," which he defined as homes larger than 3,000 square feet and which use more energy than smaller houses. Dingell was joined at the town hall meetings by representatives from several environmental groups, including Clean Water Action, the Ecology Center, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Wildlife Federation and Environment Michigan....
Sens. seek to safeguard Piñon land Responding to widespread fear the Army will seize land to expand its Piñon Canyon training site, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar said he will write legislation to block mandatory property sales. The Democratic senator said in an interview that he is considering a measure that would not only insulate property owners but force the Army to say what it is doing with its current property and why it needs more land. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard also has hardened his position. Allard is negotiating with the Army on legislation that would offer assurances to landowners who do not want to sell, a top aide said. The willingness of the two senators to step in now, after weeks of saying they wanted to balance conflicting needs of the Army and residents, could alter the military's plan for growth. "The Army has told me that they only want to purchase land from willing sellers," Salazar said. "If that's the case, we ought to put it into law." The fight over expanding the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site by more than 400,000 acres heats up next month when the Senate returns from its August break....
"No one is neutral" in water fight Out on the CX Ranch - a patch of ponderosa-pine prairie straddling the Wyoming-Montana border - water is hard to come by. So a few years ago, when an energy company approached ranch manager Chuck Larsen with the idea of using water from its coal-bed methane gas wells, the burly cowboy didn't hesitate. Today, on 37 lush, green acres, Larsen is growing 3 to 4 tons a year of alfalfa irrigated with water pumped out of an underground coal seam. "Without the water, that field wouldn't be here," Larsen said. About 120 miles southeast of Larsen's spread, Ed Swartz is convinced coal-bed methane water isn't saving his ranch, but ruining it. In October 1999, Wildcat Creek, usually just a trickle, was swamped, flooding the Swartz Ranch with coal-bed methane water. "The water just kept running for over a year, and I noticed my trees started dying," Swartz said. "It was garbage water." As far as Wyoming sheep rancher Pat O'Toole is concerned, the worst thing anyone could do with coal-bed methane water is waste it. Over the next eight years, up to 450,000 barrels of water a day are projected to be produced in southern Wyoming's Atlantic Rim Basin, where a major coal-bed methane reserve has been discovered. The federal government wants companies to reinject the water into the ground....
Energy bill targets Wyo issues While the recently passed House energy bill would make a nationwide push toward cleaner fuels, it also contains less-publicized provisions that could have an on-the-ground impact on energy development in Western states. Conservationists pushed to include measures that would slow oil and gas drilling on public lands, while the industry lobbied to have them taken out. The compromise struck in the House bill will be fought over during final negotiations with the Senate, which did not include the measures. The overall House bill would require electric utilities to produce 15 percent of their power from renewable sources such as wind, solar or biomass by 2020. It also would repeal $16 billion in tax breaks over 10 years for the oil and gas industry, using the money for renewable fuels and efficiency programs. Other provisions would raise the fee for permits to drill on public lands, give surface owners more rights on so-called "split estates," increase the dollar amount of bonds for development on public lands and increase water regulations for energy developers. The bill has drawn a range of reactions....
Changes to mine law may shake state In the 1890s, when prospectors came from across the nation to Cripple Creek with gold nuggets in their eyes, the government sold them land for $5 an acre, and often less. A century later, when a mining company wanted land in Crested Butte — a resort town where new homes go for $1 million — it got the same bargain. That’s because the law governing mineral mining on federal land hasn’t changed significantly in 135 years. The General Mining Law of 1872, meant to help settle the West, still says miners can stake claims and buy public land at a price capped at $5 an acre, with no royalties, little environmental regulation and few options for federal agencies to deny their applications. This year, the Democrat-controlled Congress is taking aim at the law, an effort that has pitted lawmakers against the Bush administration and environmentalists against the mining industry. The mining law played a major role in shaping Colorado. With 20,300 active mineral claims on federal land here — not to mention 2,600 abandoned mines, many of them sources of pollution — and mining companies taking a new interest in Colorado’s uranium deposits, a rewrite of the law could have a wide-ranging im- pact here....
Rio Grande Gorge: Bighorns return home to historic range For the hunters and gatherers who called Northern New Mexico home in prehistoric times, seeing Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep roam from the state’s highest peaks down the 800-foot basalt cliffs that form the Rio Grande Gorge was part of life. Petroglyphs chiseled into boulders up and down the river depict big-horned mammals, but it was long ago that the majestic animals disappeared from the area. On Saturday, state and federal wildlife managers took a step toward reintroducing the past as they lifted the latch on a livestock trailer and a group of bighorn sheep — after a bit of hesitation — thundered out, kicking up dust and scrambling one after the other as they made their way up the rocks. “They belong here. They’re part of the diversity,” said Sam DesGeorges, head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s field office in Taos. “Having the habitat and the animals that occupy that habitat is very important biologically.”....
National forests battle damage Near a rock formation twisting into the Arizona sky, the desert floor has been torn up by off-road vehicles. There's a tattered VCR and a bullet-riddled washing machine lying in a heap. Unscrupulous visitors have chosen this spot filled with prickly green cacti in the Tonto National Forest outside Phoenix to tear up with their ATVS, illegally dump garbage and shoot guns. Many national forests, especially ones near burgeoning metropolises, are suffering from the environmental damage similar to what is happening in the Tonto. With fewer employees and a tight budget, the U.S. Forest Service is struggling to keep up. The proposed fiscal year 2007 budget was 2.5% lower than 2006, although actual spending hasn't yet been finalized, said spokeswoman Angela Coleman. Fire suppression now eats up about 40% of its annual budget, meaning programs dealing with everything from visitor education to maintenance have been cut back, said Cecilia Clavet, an associate at the Wilderness Society in Washington D.C., who researches Forest Service issues....Oh, the poor things. It was Forest management policies, some of which were forced on the agency via lawsuits by environmental outfits like the Wilderness Society, that created the fire hazards we face today. If almost half their budget is spent on fighting fires, they have no one to blame but themselves.
Burning Man and Yucca Mountain not what they seem Burning Man and Yucca Mountain have something in common - both are highly dubious projects in the Nevada desert. Let me explain. Burning Man, the annual naked drug festival co-sponsored by San Francisco-based Black Rock City LLC and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), will take place over the Labor Day weekend in the Black Rock Desert near Gerlach. It will attract some 40,000 "free spirits" who will pay between $250 and $400 apiece for the "privilege" of baking in the sun for three or four days. Doing the math, it's clear that the festival will gross more than $10 million for its aging hippie organizers. And the BLM will rake in about a million dollars - last year's BLM take was approximately $843,000 - for looking the other way as participants do drugs and get naked in the presence of young children. For years the Burners have claimed that their event is nonprofit and non-commercial and that they're dedicated to art and assorted consciousness-raising activities. But seven-time Burner Chris Taylor, who writes for the techie magazine "Business 2.0," has revealed the truth about the festival in the July issue of that magazine. Taylor confirms that Burning Man is a $10 million business that is now seeking corporate sponsorships. So much for the high-minded New Age baloney that Burning Man organizers "lord Larry" Harvey and "Maid Marian" Goodell peddle to the media every summer....
Butte couple escape bear attack on camper Bruce Hemphill has nothing against a midnight snack. He just doesn't want to become one. Last weekend, Bruce and his wife, Pat, believed they almost became a snack as a large black bear tried to claw its way into their camper. "It was probably the most scared I've ever been in my life," Hemphill said. The Butte couple was camping in the Lowland Campground, 8 miles north of Butte off Interstate 15, when they had a rude awakening about 3 a.m. Sunday. Their entire camper started violently shaking, Hemphill said. "It felt like an earthquake or something, everything was shaking," he recalled Thursday. He would have preferred an earthquake. Instead, he encountered a black bear. The bear had climbed up the hood of his truck on top of his camper. He saw the animal through the roof vent, which he had left open before going to bed. He quickly tried to reel the vent closed, but the bear whacked the aluminum vent cover with its paw, bending it as easily as tin foil. The bear then clawed through a bug screen in the vent....
BLM fills three key leadership positions The Bureau of Land Management has announced the appointment of three career professionals to key leadership positions in the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters. Edwin L. Roberson, currently serving as manager of the BLM's Las Cruces District in New Mexico, will be the new assistant director for Renewable Resources and Planning; Michael D. "Mike" Nedd, who was director of the agency's Eastern States Office in Springfield, Va., is now assistant director for Minerals, Realty, and Resource Protection; and Celia Boddington, who headed the bureau's Washington, D.C., Public Affairs Office for more than a decade, becomes assistant director for communications. "I am very pleased to announce the appointment of these high-caliber individuals to key positions in our agency," said BLM Deputy Director Jim Hughes. "All three bring with them proven management skills of the highest order and years of experience with the Bureau."....
Feds respond to lawsuit over grizzly protection The federal government has responded to seven environmental groups that filed suit recently, seeking to restore endangered species protections for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone area. In a document filed in U.S. District Court, federal lawyers argued the environmental groups were wrong in their allegations. They said the groups were not entitled to any legal relief, and that they may not have standing to bring a lawsuit. Plaintiffs include the Western Watersheds Project, the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. They're challenging the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to lift the "threatened" status of 500 to 600 bears in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho....
Montana brings sage grouse concerns into oil and gas decisions Montana officials are imposing a new restriction on the oil and gas industry that gives more say to state wildlife biologists who have sought to slow energy development to protect an imperiled bird, the greater sage grouse. The restriction - criticized as a potential new hurdle for companies seeking to do business in Montana - underscores the state's shift away from neighboring states and provinces that embraced aggressive energy policies to maximize economic returns. Across the Rocky Mountain West, from New Mexico to Alberta, Canada, a boom in exploration this decade has sparked a backlash from environmental and conservation groups. They claim game animal populations have suffered from a proliferation of oil and gas wells in once-undeveloped areas. In Montana, those groups are finding allies in state agencies under Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. During Schweitzer's tenure, the state has charted a more circumspect course for development, giving greater weight to potential negative effects on wildlife and the environment....
Discord threatens Klamath River water talks But as the projected November deadline for a deal moves steadily nearer, environmental and Indian tribal leaders are raising concerns that the pact that everyone so desperately wants is in danger of slipping away because of what they see as political manipulation. "Whatever comes out of these negotiations has to have a scientific basis, rather than a political basis," said Clifford Lyle Marshall, Hoopa Valley Tribe chairman. "There were political strings being pulled before the negotiations started -- and they are still in play." Critics warn that the evolving 60-year agreement is being shaped by Bush administration officials and is looking more and more like a $250 million-plus gift to irrigators, assuring them of ample water and subsidized power to pump it in exchange for a huge but possibly elusive environmental victory -- knocking down four dams on the river. The hydroelectric dams are owned by Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp, which is no longer involved in the talks. Greg Addington, director of the Klamath Water Users Association and a strong advocate of a negotiated settlement, said he was disappointed that critics are beginning to go public before a deal is done. "I'd hope that we could work these things out amongst ourselves and not in the media," he said. But he added that even among irrigators there are "big concerns," despite assurances of water and subsidized power....
Hunter, angler numbers decline Fewer Americans are hunting and fishing today than 10 and 5 years ago. Preliminary results of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation were released Thursday – a survey taken every five years – and it continues to show a decline in hunting and fishing across the country. Nationally, there were 12 percent fewer anglers in 2006 than five years ago. The number of hunters fell by 4 percent for that same time period. Wildlife watching around the house – which includes anyone who gazes at birds at a backyard feeder – increased 8 percent. The number of people willing to travel to see wildlife increased by 5 percent. There are a myriad of reasons for this trend. Hunting and fishing is more expensive than watching wildlife....
Rails trail to pass Bridal Veil Falls When the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railroad ran trains to Cloudcroft, the conductor would often stop at the foot of Bridal Veil Falls to give the passengers a chance to view the 40-foot waterfall. Now that New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association has bought two easements that include the waterfall, volunteers have begun the work of converting the old railroad bed into a trail for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. Money for this purchase came from an $180,000 grant from the New Mexico Recreational Trails Program, with matching funds and labor from the USDA Forest Service and NMRTA. Bridal Veil Falls Trail will link the Salado Canyon Trestle Trail to the Grand View Trail, for a total length of about 4.5 miles. Eventually this segment of the planned 68-mile Enchanted Trail will be connected to the 35.5 miles of existing trail between the Harkey Pedestrian Bridge and Oliver Lee State Park....
Farmers object to feds' hiring crackdown Farmers say a crackdown on hiring of illegal workers announced Friday by the Bush administration will cripple California agriculture. The state's $32 billion industry relies heavily on immigrant workers, many of whom are in the country illegally. "This isn't going to work. It is going to put people out of business," said Guillermo Zamora, a Fresno County farm labor contractor who hires about 200 workers a year to harvest crops. Under new rules announced by the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, employers will have 90 days to prove their workers are legal residents. If they miss the deadline, they must terminate the employee. They could be fined up to $10,000 per worker for failing to follow the rules. Construction, janitorial and landscaping companies and hotels and restaurants also rely on illegal workers. The new rules take effect in 30 days. "We are concerned that the new regulations will result in employers in numerous industries having to let workers go as the economy is facing an increasingly tight labor market," John Gay of the National Restaurant Association told The Associated Press....
Horses die near pipeline The deaths of 27 horses owned by a Malta rancher are being investigated to see whether there is any link to a leak discovered in an underground natural gas pipeline. Crews performing routine maintenance checks Aug. 3 on the pipeline owned by Williams Northwest Pipeline discovered 16 horse carcasses on Benjamin Bartlett's ranch, Michele Swaner, company spokeswoman, told the South Idaho Press. Swaner said the company immediately notified Bartlett and the Cassia County sheriff. Over the next several days, 11 more carcasses were found, she said. The company discovered a nickel-sized hole in the pipeline Thursday, and Swaner said that section was repaired and put back in service. Veterinarian Ward Wallace, of Burley, tested the carcasses last week, but said the time between death and his tests makes it nearly impossible to tell if natural gas played a role....
Nitrates may have killed test site horses Diagnostic and toxicology results indicate that nitrate toxicity is the most likely cause of death in July for 71 wild horses managed by the Bureau of Land Management on the Nevada Wild Horse Range. High levels of nitrates were found in some water samples taken from a pond the horses used for drinking on a dry lake bed and also in the deceased horses’ blood serum and ocular fluid. Water test results indicated nitrate levels of more than 3,000 parts per million. The United States Health Service standard for drinking water for human consumption is less than 45 ppm. Livestock can tolerate higher levels but problems are known to occur when levels exceed 400 ppm and acceptable levels should be below 100 ppm. Acute nitrate toxicity in horses is not well understood and there haven’t been many instances of it reported. There is no indication that the problem is attributable to a contagious or infectious disease....
Stream may have spread foot and mouth The investigation into the foot and mouth outbreak is now focusing on a stream running through the two infected farms. Officials, meanwhile, have confirmed that a third farm being tested for the virus, 12 miles from the outbreak in Surrey, is free of the disease. The stream involved runs past an allotment used by a senior employee of the pharmaceutical company linked to the outbreak, before passing through nearby fields used by the two farms hit by the virus. Merial UK, which shares the Pirbright high-security laboratory site with the government-funded Institute for Animal Health, also admitted that blue chemical barrels scattered on the allotment had not been decontaminated before being taken off the site. Villagers in Normandy, Surrey, where the first case in the outbreak occurred, think the virus may have passed from the barrels on the allotment into the stream, contaminating water drunk by animals downstream. Investigators are now convinced the virus came from the Pirbright labs. A government report said the strain of the virus found was held in only a handful of labs around the world. Pirbright was the nearest and the next was in Belgium....
Insider reveals lax security at bio-lab A WORKER has raised concerns about bio-security at the state-owned research complex where the foot and mouth outbreak is believed to have originated. Percy Ravate, a contract worker, was struck down with life-threatening Legionnaires’ disease, which he believes he caught while repairing pipework at the Pirbright complex in Surrey. He said basic health and safety procedures were flouted, he was allowed to roam around laboratories and security measures such as checking visitors were not enforced. His allegations came as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continued investigations into a senior scientist at the complex who had an allotment neighbouring the field in which the first case of foot and mouth was identified. He had been using chemical drums – thought to be from the complex – as plant tubs....
Practice of 'tail docking' draws foes On the one hand, it’s hard to watch youngsters dissolve into tears when months of work with a lamb is disqualified in moments at the Wyoming State Fair. But on the other hand, veterinarians, fair leadership and lamb industry reps can’t stand by and see an animal placed at risk for serious health problems and even death, just to look better in the show ring. As a compromise in an ongoing controversy over proper tail docking lengths on market lambs at the fair, a new rule this year should ease some of the tension for the young exhibitors while ensuring that any animal chosen as a champion will meet health standards. Breeders have docked, or cut, lamb tails for years. Ranchers with stock on the open prairie started the practice to prevent range conditions that could prove deadly to animals, Douglas veterinarian Dr. Dean Smylie explained. The issue now is over the length of the tail remaining after docking. In the past decade some breeders started cutting tails closer to the quick, possibly in response to judges who found the shorter tails visually appealing, even on an animal destined for market....
Beheaded rattlesnake bites rancher Turns out, even beheaded rattlesnakes can be dangerous. That's what 53-year-old Danny Anderson learned as he was feeding his horses Monday night, when a more than a metre-long rattler slithered onto his central Washington property, about 80 kilometres southeast of Yakima. Mr. Anderson and his 27-year-old son, Benjamin, pinned the snake with an irrigation pipe and cut off its head with a shovel. A few more strikes to the head left it sitting under a pickup truck. “When I reached down to pick up the head, it raised around and did a backflip almost, and bit my finger,” Mr. Anderson said. “I had to shake my hand real hard to get it to let loose.” His wife insisted they go to the hospital, and by the time they arrived at Prosser Memorial Hospital 10 minutes later, Mr. Anderson's tongue was swollen and the venom was spreading. He then was taken by ambulance 50 kilometres to a Richland hospital to get the full series of six shots he needed. The snake head ended up in the bed of his pickup, and Mr. Anderson landed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon....
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The county fair belles of the barn
Cowgirl Sass and Savvy
By Julie Carter
Every day, sometimes twice-a-day, the livestock barns at the county fair see a transformation that seems almost magical.
The ladies of the livestock pens transform from normal teens in a pig barn to bling-bling fashion queens headed to the show ring.
The full-house crowds that always gather around the show ring prior to the junior livestock shows at the fair are missing out on the real show that takes place in the barns in preparation for the competition.
While there are at least an equal number of male exhibitors, the transformation for them is less dramatic and more low maintenance, so for the purpose of this story, I'm telling the "girl" version.
A family testing period takes place for hours prior to "showtime." One or both parents of an exhibitor is up to their whatevers in suds and water getting a pig, who is not known for his hygiene, fluffed, buffed and show-sheened for competition.
All this happens while the sole proprietor of the pig is putting on makeup, spraying down loose strands of hair, giving a permanent set to ringlet ponytail curls with a color-coordinated ribbon and polishing up the rhinestones on her hoop earrings and belt.
A short time before this she was simply a normal teen in a T-shirt and jeans.
While the bling-bling princesses are parading the show ring looking like runway models from a rural setting, their moms try to watch from ringside.
They aren't hard to sort out from the crowd. They have a towel slung over one shoulder, wear high-top rubber boots, old jeans and a shirt splattered with water and other stuff not discussable and carry at least one, if not two, water spray bottles.
Tendrils of their hair fall around their flushed, makeup-less faces. Anxiousness keeps them on the move with a desire to watch the competition while knowing they have yet another hog to wash before the next class of competition.
Most of these moms were once show ring darlings themselves. Those few short years of moments in the spotlight at the county fair are a distant but poignant memory.
It is now what keeps them doing what they do - passing the torch to their sons and daughters knowing the experience is more than just fun, but a solid foundation for life-long attitudes and character traits.
While Dad is often the muscle, the coach and stoic competitive instructor, Mom is the organizer, the cheerleader, the motivator and of course, in charge of all lists for all things before, during and after the fair.
Somehow in the midst of the exhaustion from the preparation to get to the fair with all the necessities for providing for a family and critters for a week away from home, they maintain the ability to smile, and smile, and smile some more.
After all, it's County Fair week and by Saturday night there will be many who know they had a lot of fun - they will just have to rest up a couple weeks before they can recall just when it was they had fun.
And Belles of the Barn?
They start young, but the true queens are the moms who, year after year, give of themselves to raise another generation of kids who are not just about the beauty and the bling.
They know that what really counts is the beauty that comes from hard work, self-sacrifice and responsibility to other people and to their livestock.
Come to the fair and I promise, you will see what I mean.
Cowgirl Sass and Savvy
By Julie Carter
Every day, sometimes twice-a-day, the livestock barns at the county fair see a transformation that seems almost magical.
The ladies of the livestock pens transform from normal teens in a pig barn to bling-bling fashion queens headed to the show ring.
The full-house crowds that always gather around the show ring prior to the junior livestock shows at the fair are missing out on the real show that takes place in the barns in preparation for the competition.
While there are at least an equal number of male exhibitors, the transformation for them is less dramatic and more low maintenance, so for the purpose of this story, I'm telling the "girl" version.
A family testing period takes place for hours prior to "showtime." One or both parents of an exhibitor is up to their whatevers in suds and water getting a pig, who is not known for his hygiene, fluffed, buffed and show-sheened for competition.
All this happens while the sole proprietor of the pig is putting on makeup, spraying down loose strands of hair, giving a permanent set to ringlet ponytail curls with a color-coordinated ribbon and polishing up the rhinestones on her hoop earrings and belt.
A short time before this she was simply a normal teen in a T-shirt and jeans.
While the bling-bling princesses are parading the show ring looking like runway models from a rural setting, their moms try to watch from ringside.
They aren't hard to sort out from the crowd. They have a towel slung over one shoulder, wear high-top rubber boots, old jeans and a shirt splattered with water and other stuff not discussable and carry at least one, if not two, water spray bottles.
Tendrils of their hair fall around their flushed, makeup-less faces. Anxiousness keeps them on the move with a desire to watch the competition while knowing they have yet another hog to wash before the next class of competition.
Most of these moms were once show ring darlings themselves. Those few short years of moments in the spotlight at the county fair are a distant but poignant memory.
It is now what keeps them doing what they do - passing the torch to their sons and daughters knowing the experience is more than just fun, but a solid foundation for life-long attitudes and character traits.
While Dad is often the muscle, the coach and stoic competitive instructor, Mom is the organizer, the cheerleader, the motivator and of course, in charge of all lists for all things before, during and after the fair.
Somehow in the midst of the exhaustion from the preparation to get to the fair with all the necessities for providing for a family and critters for a week away from home, they maintain the ability to smile, and smile, and smile some more.
After all, it's County Fair week and by Saturday night there will be many who know they had a lot of fun - they will just have to rest up a couple weeks before they can recall just when it was they had fun.
And Belles of the Barn?
They start young, but the true queens are the moms who, year after year, give of themselves to raise another generation of kids who are not just about the beauty and the bling.
They know that what really counts is the beauty that comes from hard work, self-sacrifice and responsibility to other people and to their livestock.
Come to the fair and I promise, you will see what I mean.
FLE
U.S. Border Patrol Agent Kills Man A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a suspected smuggler at a fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico after the agent felt threatened by the man, authorities said Thursday. Mexico criticized what it described as an "excessive use of force" against immigrants and demanded an investigation. Jose Alejandro Ortiz Castillo, a 23-year-old man who had been caught crossing the border 28 times since 1999, died in Mexico shortly after the Wednesday night shooting, Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said. An unidentified agent spotted Ortiz apparently leading two men and a woman through a hole in the border fence just east of downtown El Paso. Ortiz, who was carrying bolt cutters, picked up a rock as the agent was arresting the woman, Mosier said. The Mexican government demanded in a statement that "all the weight of the law be brought to bear against the person or persons responsible." "The Mexican government expresses a firm protest against the use of lethal weapons in the face of situations that do not represent a proportionate risk," the Foreign Relations Department said. Ortiz had been deported from the U.S. in 2004, Mosier said....
Mexico accused of framing border agent Mexico is withholding key witnesses that could exonerate Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett of second-degree murder charges and paying for others to testify against him, asserts a union leader. Brandon Judd, vice president of U.S. Border Patrol Union Local 2544, told WND the Mexican consulate is taking care of all the expenses of three Mexican witnesses to the shooting so they can remain in the U.S. to testify against Corbett. Corbett has been indicted on second-degree murder charges in Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee, Ariz., in connection with the shooting Jan. 12 of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, a 22-year old illegal immigrant from Mexico who allegedly was threatening to throw a rock at the officer. Judd said the witnesses prepared to testify against Corbett are Dominguez's two brothers and the girlfriend of one of the brothers. "The Mexican consulate is providing all three with food, housing, and clothing – everything these three individuals need, such that they don't even have to work while they are waiting to testify," Judd said. Judd further charged that the Mexican government is intentionally hiding three other witnesses who could absolve Corbett....
How the Fight for Vast New Spying Powers Was Won For three days, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, had haggled with congressional leaders over amendments to a federal surveillance law, but now he was putting his foot down. "This is the issue," said the plain-spoken retired vice admiral and Vietnam veteran, "that makes my blood pressure rise." McConnell viscerally objected to a Democratic proposal to limit warrantless surveillance of foreigners' communications with Americans to instances in which one party was a terrorism suspect. McConnell wanted no such limits. "All foreign intelligence" targets in touch with Americans on any topic of interest should be fair game for U.S. spying, he said, according to two participants in the Aug. 2 conversation. McConnell won the fight, extracting a key concession despite the misgivings of Democratic negotiators. Shortly after that exchange, the Bush administration leveraged Democratic acquiescence into a broader victory: congressional approval of a Republican bill that would expand surveillance powers far beyond what Democratic leaders had initially been willing to accept. Yet both sides acknowledge that the administration's resurrection of virtually unchecked Cold War-era power to surveil foreign targets without warrants may be only temporary. The law expires in 180 days, and Democrats, smarting from their political defeat, have promised to alter it with new legislation to be prepared next month, when Congress returns from its recess....
White House Gets More Time to Hand Over Wiretapping Info The Senate Judiciary Committee has extended a deadline for the White House to provide information on the scope of its warrantless wiretapping program, a move civil liberties advocates describe as a "step in the right direction" for congressional oversight. The White House, noting that the subpoenas cover a "wide range of materials" over a six-year period, said it needs more time to produce the documents. On June 27, Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee chairman, subpoenaed documents from the White House pertaining to its Terrorist Surveillance Program, instituted after 9/11 to defend the nation from people intent on harming Americans. In December 2005, the New York Times disclosed that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to tap the telephone calls and emails of foreign intelligence targets located abroad who communicate with Americans in the United States....
U.S. Border Patrol Agent Kills Man A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a suspected smuggler at a fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico after the agent felt threatened by the man, authorities said Thursday. Mexico criticized what it described as an "excessive use of force" against immigrants and demanded an investigation. Jose Alejandro Ortiz Castillo, a 23-year-old man who had been caught crossing the border 28 times since 1999, died in Mexico shortly after the Wednesday night shooting, Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said. An unidentified agent spotted Ortiz apparently leading two men and a woman through a hole in the border fence just east of downtown El Paso. Ortiz, who was carrying bolt cutters, picked up a rock as the agent was arresting the woman, Mosier said. The Mexican government demanded in a statement that "all the weight of the law be brought to bear against the person or persons responsible." "The Mexican government expresses a firm protest against the use of lethal weapons in the face of situations that do not represent a proportionate risk," the Foreign Relations Department said. Ortiz had been deported from the U.S. in 2004, Mosier said....
Mexico accused of framing border agent Mexico is withholding key witnesses that could exonerate Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett of second-degree murder charges and paying for others to testify against him, asserts a union leader. Brandon Judd, vice president of U.S. Border Patrol Union Local 2544, told WND the Mexican consulate is taking care of all the expenses of three Mexican witnesses to the shooting so they can remain in the U.S. to testify against Corbett. Corbett has been indicted on second-degree murder charges in Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee, Ariz., in connection with the shooting Jan. 12 of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, a 22-year old illegal immigrant from Mexico who allegedly was threatening to throw a rock at the officer. Judd said the witnesses prepared to testify against Corbett are Dominguez's two brothers and the girlfriend of one of the brothers. "The Mexican consulate is providing all three with food, housing, and clothing – everything these three individuals need, such that they don't even have to work while they are waiting to testify," Judd said. Judd further charged that the Mexican government is intentionally hiding three other witnesses who could absolve Corbett....
How the Fight for Vast New Spying Powers Was Won For three days, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, had haggled with congressional leaders over amendments to a federal surveillance law, but now he was putting his foot down. "This is the issue," said the plain-spoken retired vice admiral and Vietnam veteran, "that makes my blood pressure rise." McConnell viscerally objected to a Democratic proposal to limit warrantless surveillance of foreigners' communications with Americans to instances in which one party was a terrorism suspect. McConnell wanted no such limits. "All foreign intelligence" targets in touch with Americans on any topic of interest should be fair game for U.S. spying, he said, according to two participants in the Aug. 2 conversation. McConnell won the fight, extracting a key concession despite the misgivings of Democratic negotiators. Shortly after that exchange, the Bush administration leveraged Democratic acquiescence into a broader victory: congressional approval of a Republican bill that would expand surveillance powers far beyond what Democratic leaders had initially been willing to accept. Yet both sides acknowledge that the administration's resurrection of virtually unchecked Cold War-era power to surveil foreign targets without warrants may be only temporary. The law expires in 180 days, and Democrats, smarting from their political defeat, have promised to alter it with new legislation to be prepared next month, when Congress returns from its recess....
White House Gets More Time to Hand Over Wiretapping Info The Senate Judiciary Committee has extended a deadline for the White House to provide information on the scope of its warrantless wiretapping program, a move civil liberties advocates describe as a "step in the right direction" for congressional oversight. The White House, noting that the subpoenas cover a "wide range of materials" over a six-year period, said it needs more time to produce the documents. On June 27, Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee chairman, subpoenaed documents from the White House pertaining to its Terrorist Surveillance Program, instituted after 9/11 to defend the nation from people intent on harming Americans. In December 2005, the New York Times disclosed that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to tap the telephone calls and emails of foreign intelligence targets located abroad who communicate with Americans in the United States....
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